By LPJ
I miss a friend I had known in the past two years. Having completed a Fulbright postdoctoral fellowship at Stanford University in California, Chandra Vadhana, PhD, left last week back to India where her teenage son and daughter eagerly awaited her return. She will have five weeks to prepare the family for migration to Australia, where she will assume a faculty position at the Monash Business Institute. A big move, and a big change. But Chandra doesn’t change.
From the first day I met Chandra in January 2022, she has been the vivacious, gregarious, quick-to-smile and quick-to-laugh lady, bright eyed and genuinely interested in everyone she meets. She considers herself a feminist, up front in women advocacies and pushing the advancement of education and professional skills especially among the Indian women. Uppermost in her mind is encouraging respect and placing value in women of any society. A modern-day crusader that sets herself as the example of a hardworking, persevering, smart and wise female.
Dr. Chandra Vadhana
A pose after one of many goodbye parties for Chandra in Palo Alto
Extraordinary in her personality is the absence of arrogance that could easily have been acquired from her numerous accomplishments. While pursuing her postdoctoral work at Stanford, she often was invited to give talks or be part of panels at workshops and conferences locally, regionally and nationally. The latest was serving on the panel of a business conference organized by the United Nations in New York. She is highly recognized for her entrepreneurship in India, and her successful projects in facilitating the education and training necessary for Indian women’s livelihood or career. She received the prestigious “Woman in Business Award” from the United Nations during the 2018 UN Conference on Business and Development in Switzerland.
Among her touted achievements in India is founding and directing Prayaana, a forum and platform joined by qualified and caring mentors and coaches who teach the Indian women work skills, to ready them for job applications or a shift or advancement in career. Chandra also is Managing Editor of SheSight, a monthly magazine she started in India that is fast gaining popularity and subscriptions. This publication particularly features successful Indian women in any profession, emphasizing the challenging paths they tread before gaining progress in whatever work they pursue.
Locally in the California Bay Area, her community service included involvement in a non-profit that supports children of poor families in India. She often participated in a large network of business men and women who held conferences dealing with various economic concerns including diversity in the workplace and gender issues. But despite her heavy academic, conference and meeting schedules, she made time for friends. Not just in quick drop-by’s, but hours of socializing, catching up, or simply enjoying the camaraderie and having fun. In gatherings, she made people happy with witty comments that point to the upbeat, positive and even pleasantly funny.
What Chandra is more distinguished for, in my estimate, is her love for people. She exudes kindness with empathy that flows from her willingness to listen to everyone’s story. While eager to share her own, for her, there is always room and time for someone else’s story. A remarkable trait especially for one always on the go. A stark example of warmth and amiability. She also is much appreciated for her humor and propensity for laughter, so infectious and heartening. And not to overlook, is her talent for jokes and playful teasing. She is not coy about being “silly” in a delightful way, a charming and healthy trait that brings out the “little girl” in her. Because of these, she is sorely missed by scores of friends she quickly made here.
Minutes before the boarding call at the San Francisco Airport last Friday, Chandra called me to reiterate her thank you’s. At the end of our conversation, she exhorted, “Always pray”. This is what I often say after chats with those I am close to – a loving nudge almost in the realm of “God bless you”. This time, it was said to me. A crisp reminder borrowed from me perhaps? I don’t know, but I felt glad to be on the recipient end. My calm response – “You, too.” Then, she hurried off to board the plane.