Every woman can write her own story
That’s why I started The Leela Collective
The Leela Collective is my humble effort in gathering the authentic, relatable voices of strong Indian women into one motivational force. It is me finding people, interviewing them, transcribing their interviews, editing to the essence, designing their stories and posting. It is not something to sensationalize or monetize and it’s certainly not something I expect to get famous from. The Leela Collective is my painstaking effort at something beautiful and meaningful and important. It takes a lot of my time because I am driven to honor the women I interview. But it is worth it to me for many reasons, one of which is deeply personal.
A few of my friends have asked me why I make this effort. Don’t I already have enough to do in my full-time life? I guess the answer is that I’m never doing enough. I am constantly restless. I feel the urge to channel my energy into something that at once feels close to my heart yet is bigger than I am. I have always embraced the proverbial pivot. If an adverse situation or a banality lends itself to my taking a leap, I’ll do it despite how crazy my choice seems.
While others see the risk in what I’m doing, I see the risk in standing still.
I always draw on my inner confidence to tackle the natural feelings of fear and inferiority that come with the territory of taking on the unknown. However, I notice other talented women self-imposing limitations on themselves because they are afraid of the consequences. Herein lies the core reason why I started TLC. To chronicle the real experiences of strong, enterprising women so that we can all deepen our self-confidence reserves and realize something new about ourselves.
I also started TLC because I am a self-righteous, fiercely independent, cynical idealist.
The world is full of amazing women and their enterprising journeys. But we don’t hear much about these ladies and whatever does get said is grossly superficial. What we do hear in spades are stories covering the lives of celebrities. I see through all the media hyperbole and I do not waste my time on vicarious dreams of celebrity lives as my own. I want women to be inspired by stories that we can all relate to because they are about people who experience life as we do.
I do not want to gloss over their struggles. I want the world to realize the grit and vision required to make it on your own.
Another reason for TLC is because of what social media is doing to our self-confidence. There are plenty of studies on how social media “likes” are reducing our internal ability to be resilient, to self-reflect and to feel whole. (Dear introvert, you may have more self-confidence than the extrovert now!) We care more about what other people think in order to care more about ourselves. Scary.
TLC is a little dose of self-validation. It may be TL;DR for most but whenever I get a handful of people to feel inspired by its truths, I feel that I have achieved a lot.
I often get asked why I named my website, The Leela Collective. Leela literally means “divine play.” In Hindu mythology, it is how the gods created the world. It’s a beautiful word for a beautiful world. Leela is also the name of my little girl. She was born three months too early and was on this earth for two days. There should be a reason why my Leela was born. TLC is her mother’s way of making her spirit live.
All of the above are reasons why I will make sure that The Leela Collective thrives. Regardless of how often I post, I want TLC to be a place where women can empathize, share and gather strength for their journeys. So that rather than focusing on the all-consuming mundanities of life, we find mind-space to focus on our ability to do well on our own terms. We cannot embark on any enterprise unless we are ready to face the inevitable challenges that come with our choices.
I hope that someday, every woman will step forward to overcome her challenges and make her own Leela for others to follow.
