Connections
Last weekend Khatundi and I were among the 2000 people who attended the 3rd annual Women in the World Summit in New York. Organized by Tina Brown, Editor in Chief of Newsweek and The Daily Beast, the summit was a three-day, well-orchestrated stream of passionate world-figures discussing a range of important women’s issues.
My favorite moments were the Mellody Hobson interview of Valerie Jarrett, the Charlie Rose interview of Madeleine Albright and the panel discussion about forced marriage. I was in awe of the bravery of Jasvinder Sanghera as she spoke about escaping a forced marriage in the United Kingdom, and the incredible strength of heart it takes to withstand being alienated by one’s family simply for wanting to make your own decisions.
This was my first time seeing Hillary Clinton in person and my eyes welled up with tears. Wait, I had tears in my eyes the first time I saw Wendy Williams so maybe it meant nothing. Maybe I’m just a weirdly emotional person. No, I’ve decided that it meant everything to see the former first lady, former senator, current Secretary of State and long time champion of women’s causes say, “we all need to be part of the solution and as fearless as the women’s stories we’ve heard.” It was riveting.
Right before she spoke a young girl from Nepal named Suma Tharu sang. Suma had worked in an abusive system of indentured servitude called Kamlari from the age of six to twelve. She was rescued and finally allowed to go to school through a program called Room to Read, and she’s featured in a Richard Robins documentary called 10×10, 10 stories of 10 girls from 10 countries (I hope I got that right). Suma took the stage to sing a poignant song and undoubtedly moved everyone in the audience.
After the summit we found an Indian restaurant and we were seated in a tight corner next to a table of seven women. They were from the summit, for sure, and something about one of the women was very familiar. It was Suma’s translator! So the young woman sitting closest, but with her back to us had to be none other than…Suma. I had a gazillion questions I wanted to ask her about this Kamlari system, and I was starting to feel weirdly possessive, like when I met the young woman who’d flown in from Kabul. I pulled out my iphone so I could send her an email and solidify our new best friend status, 30 seconds after she introduced herself. As she talked I envisioned my trip to Afghanistan and wearing a chic hijab. Anyways…
Gone was Suma’s ornate colorful costume, and in its place, all black shirt, pants, and flats, the perfect backdrop from which to display her beautiful spirit. We said, “you go, no you go” until Khatundi got up and spoke to the women. She gave them some background about the Yayaz Project and then turned directly to Suma and thanked her for courageously sharing her story with the world. She told her that hearing stories like hers inspires her to keep working to improve the lives of young girls, and as Suma listened to the foreign words being translated, a big smile slowly spread over her face. Connection. It’s that intimate, priceless moment when one heart meets another in complete understanding. She looked over at me and smiled again and I was glad that she could take our gratitude back with her to Nepal.
Ultimately for me, Women in the World was about the many connecting points between women of varying backgrounds. Connecting points were made over and over as we listened to the speakers and engaged with other attendees. I left with a renewed spirit, and I left with the words of Hillary Clinton who closed the session by saying, “I hope that through your own activism you will leave here thinking about what you can do.’ I have, for sure.
