VISAKHAPATNAM: The City of Destiny has a plethora of talent and many women here are breaking stereotypes. Meet a few women from Visakhapatnam who have made the city proud and inspired many others.
Jayshree Hatangadi (64) is a heritage narrator. She creates awareness among people on the importance of protecting historical monuments. Jayashree was initially working in the retail and banking sector. Almost 15 years ago, she realised that Visakhapatnam district is rich in culture and heritage and started a detailed study.
"In the process of learning and narrating, I have been involved in conserving historical monuments," she says. In the last couple of months, Jayshree collected funds to put up a gate at Pavuralakonda, a Buddhist site. She works for saving the geo-heritage sites in Vizag and creates awareness on the same.
Hollini Pallavi Patnaik was the first runner up in the Mrs India Beauty Pageant contest in December 2020. Unlike most models, Pallavi is 5 ft 2' and has not done any modelling course. For someone of her height, getting chances in modelling seemed impossible.
But, she never gave up. After completing her under graduation from Visakhapatnam and her post graduation from IMT-Ghaziabad, she now works as a healthcare market research professional. "Body shaming is not just limited to weight, but also height and colour, and every form of body shaming must be addressed, and we must evolve to be a society that encourages and nurtures others, instead of discouraging them," she opines. She is creating awareness on the same.
Vaishali Kulkarni (52) is one of the first solo women bikers from Andhra Pradesh. She is an educationist with 27 years of teaching and administrative background. She was attracted to bikes when she was in college, but she was not encouraged to ride one by her family.
Vaishali says she is riding bikes now for a cause. All the rides - both solo and group trips - are to spread awareness on cancer, road safety, girl child education and the necessity of helmets. However, more than anything, Vaishali says, she wants to break the gender stereotypes. "A bike is not gender-specific," Vaishali explains.