India’s women didn’t fight for voting rights — Switzerland got theirs in 1970. This panel reclaims what was always ours.

A diverse Kashmir LitFest panel — doctor, army spouse, educationalist, and young Kashmiri law student — examines how the Shiva-Shakti paradigm from Soundarya Lahari grounds gender complementarity in Indian civilisational thought. Panellists address post-1994 consumerism targeting women through cosmetics and fashion branding, the disturbing reality of gender-selective pressure in hospitals, and the difference between genuine empowerment and market co-optation. The young Kashmiri voice adds urgency — representing women reclaiming an identity that never needed the West’s permission to be free.

About The Speakers:

Ami Ganatra (The Moderator) is a Computer Science Engineer and IIM Ahmedabad graduate with 15+ years of management experience, including Bain & Company. She is a student of Yoga and Sanskrit who has authored Ramayana Unravelled: Lesser Known Facts about Rishi Valmiki’s Epic as well as Mahabharata Unravelled: Lesser Known Facts about a Well-Known History, translated into multiple languages.
Dr. Henana Berjes is a poet and author of ‘The Mahzur’ and ‘The Third Daughter, a tale of hate, vengeance, and remorse’. She is an anaesthesiologist by profession; she practices in Srinagar, Kashmir.
Mrs Pandey is a result-driven professional with more than 14 years of experience as a school administrator and teacher in various educational institutions such as APS, KV, Convent, and Public Schools Pan India. Since her marriage to Lt Gen DP Pandey (presently Commandant of Army War College, Mhow) she has been actively participating in welfare organizations in various capacities.
Azra Mufti is a law student from Kashmir and the student representative in the Kashmir Lit Fest.