BY VEENA RAO
Norcross, GA, March 13, 2026: The Consulate General of India in Atlanta marked International Women’s Day with a celebration of achievement, resilience, service, and self-realization at Aashiana Banquet Hall in Norcross on Sunday, March 8, bringing together community members, professionals, and families for an afternoon of speeches, reflection, and cultural performances.
In his remarks, Consul General Ramesh Babu Lakshmanan praised the contributions of women in leadership, science, public service, entrepreneurship, and community life, noting that women continue to shape progress in India and across the diaspora. Addressing the gathering, he said the day was an occasion to celebrate women’s achievements, resilience, and growing leadership in every field.
He commended women who have built families and careers while navigating life in a new country, calling their accomplishments “not a small thing.” He also highlighted the role Indian women have played globally, from politics and public service to science and space exploration, and said their success brings pride to India and to the wider Indian community abroad.
Lakshmanan also pointed to the role of women within the Consulate itself, saying many of the office’s consular services are carried out by women staff members whose dedication helps sustain its work. Referring to the Indian idea of Shakti, or feminine power, he said women are not merely to be “empowered” but recognized as central to development and leadership. “This is the day we celebrate your success,” he told the audience.
The event featured a lineup of distinguished speakers from the fields of yoga, law, public health, and social impact, each reflecting on women’s power from a different perspective.
The program opened with a presentation by Madhu of the Wonders of the World Foundation, who spoke about the organization’s mission of inclusion in the performing arts. She said WOW was created to ensure that talent is not limited by barriers to access, recognition, or acceptance. The foundation, she said, is committed to creating spaces where neurodiverse individuals and those with intellectual and developmental disabilities can express themselves freely, gain confidence, and shine alongside others.
“Our goal is not just to create performances, but to create a change in perspectives, in opportunities, and in the way we celebrate diversity in arts,” she said.
Children from the Wonders of the World Foundation then presented a performance of We Are the World, adding a lively and emotional element to the celebration.
Swati Kumari, Teacher of Indian Culture with ICCR, spoke on “Awakening the Divine Feminine Energy,” framing yoga as a path to inner awakening and balance. She described Shakti as an inherent energy within every person and led the audience through breathing and meditation exercises intended to calm the nervous system and heighten awareness.
Kumari explained that yoga, posture, breathwork, and meditation help channel energy through the body and awaken consciousness. She also demonstrated Bhramari Pranayama, or humming breath, and described its calming effects, saying it helps relax the body and support mental clarity. Drawing on the Bhagavad Gita, she emphasized moderation, balance, and discipline in daily life as essential to reducing suffering and cultivating inner peace.
Judge Neera Bahl, Director and Appellate Division Judge at the Georgia State Board of Workers’ Compensation, delivered one of the afternoon’s most personal talks, titled “Babysitter to Bench.” In a candid account of her journey from immigrant homemaker to appellate judge, Bahl recalled arriving in the United States in 1979 with her husband, a suitcase, $150, and an accent, expecting an easy version of the American dream.
Instead, she encountered struggle, uncertainty, and the need to rebuild from scratch. Unable to find office work at first, she began babysitting for a neighbor while teaching herself typing in the evenings. Her path later took her from a receptionist’s desk to research work in Birmingham, Alabama, and then to Emory University in Atlanta.
A near-fatal car accident in 1990 became a turning point, she said, prompting her to ask what she wanted to do with the second chance she had been given. The answer was law. At age 45, she entered law school, despite family responsibilities and her own doubts, and graduated in the top 10 percent of her class. She went on to build a career in immigration and family law, eventually purchasing the law firm where she had worked, before being appointed in 2020 by Gov. Brian Kemp to the Georgia State Board of Workers’ Compensation.
Bahl urged women not to impose limits on themselves because of age, fear, or circumstance. “There is no age to dream big,” she said, encouraging the audience to push past internal hesitation and keep faith in their ambitions.
She also reflected on the women who paved the way for future generations, naming figures such as Sarojini Naidu, Indira Gandhi, Kalpana Chawla, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Maya Angelou, Rani Lakshmibai, and Ahilyabai Holkar. In a memorable closing thought, she said men and women should be seen not in competition, but as “two wings of a bird,” both necessary to lift the world higher.
Dr. Priti Bandi, Scientific Director of Cancer Risk Factors and Screening Surveillance Research at the American Cancer Society, spoke on “Using Science to Save Lives,” connecting her personal journey from Hyderabad to national recognition as a public health leader. Recently named to the TIME100 Health list, Bandi described herself as a “disease detective” whose work involves studying large data sets to understand cancer risk, prevention, and screening patterns.
She said her work became deeply personal during the COVID-19 pandemic, when her team documented steep drops in cancer screenings across the United States, particularly among vulnerable communities including lower-income women, women of color, and immigrants. She recalled how the data took on new meaning when someone in her own orbit delayed lifesaving care because she had to choose between medical treatment and putting food on the table.
Bandi said the experience underscored the need not only for data, but for action. Her work, she explained, now focuses on identifying barriers such as cost, transportation, lack of knowledge, and lack of insurance so that advocates and policymakers can use evidence to expand access to care.
“Data alone cannot save lives. We need to act on what we know from the data,” she said.
She urged audience members to schedule preventive health appointments they may have been postponing, help newly arrived immigrants navigate the American healthcare system, and, for those in positions of influence, work to remove barriers to care for employees and constituents.
The final speaker, Vanita Boswell, founder and CEO of The VALO Group, delivered a motivational talk titled “Your Story, My Story, Our Power.” Blending storytelling with lessons from science and philanthropy, Boswell reflected on identity, resilience, service, and the power of women to shape their own futures and help others discover theirs.
She spoke about being one of the first non-white families in Lilburn, Georgia, and the identity struggles of growing up caught between Indian expectations at home and American ones at school. Recounting a childhood memory of being hidden by her soccer coach during a Ku Klux Klan march in downtown Lilburn, she described how those experiences taught her the importance of understanding who she was on the inside rather than becoming what others expected on the outside.
Boswell organized her remarks around a series of attributes — surrender, courage, power, catalyst, hope, and celebration — pairing each with stories from her life and career. She recalled her fundraising work with the Girl Scouts of the USA, where she said she learned to stop “begging” for support for girls and women and start asking with confidence, grounded in the belief that women and girls are “not problems to be fixed” but “assets to be gained.”
She also spoke about her work on Rooting for Runa, the documentary about an Indian child with a severe medical condition whose story drew global attention. Boswell said that through six years of supporting the child and her family, she learned profound lessons about faith, compassion, and motherhood.
Turning to her own fertility journey, she said the eventual birth of her daughter Asha — whose name means hope — affirmed for her the power of persistence, community, and belief. She encouraged women not to whisper their desires but to “scream them into fruition,” and to let others stand with them in pursuing their goals.
In one of the talk’s most intimate moments, Boswell urged the women in the audience not to forget their inner child while raising families and meeting responsibilities. As a symbolic gesture, compact mirrors were distributed to attendees, with Boswell asking them to see not only who they are today, but also the girl within who would be proud of the woman they have become.
Lakshita Ramesh Babu emceed the afternoon’s proceedings. While each speaker approached women’s empowerment from a different angle — yoga, law, science, advocacy, or storytelling — the common thread was the belief that women’s voices and leadership are essential to stronger communities.
