Her grandparents were rural farmers, her father an officer in the army. She was married off to a man her family chose for her at the age of 19. Two children and some years later, the last place you’d expect to find India-native Madhu Sirohi is on a stage doing stand-up comedy in New York City. But this past September, Madhu decided that it was time to follow her dreams.
But the journey to get to this point in her life was not a simple one. Madhu says that she was not raised to be an empowered woman, but slowly and steadily she became the type of person with the freedom to build a career for herself and to pursue her interests in performing. In 2010, Madhu joined Uninor as Head of Corporate Responsibility (CR), charged with the task of developing Uninor’s CR program under Telenor Group’s instruction of “creating shared value”. With that direction in hand, Madhu turned her attention to an issue in India that she is most passionate about: empowering women like herself to prosper.
Closing the gender gap
From the beginning of her career in Uninor, Madhu was committed to the empowerment of women through telecommunications technology, using her own story to inspire and engage others. She was attracted to Uninor because of its business-aligned CR strategy, rather than traditional corporate philanthropy to which most Indian companies adhere.
Madhu and Uninor were the first in the Indian telecom industry to raise the issue of the gender gap in mobile phone ownership. Fewer women in India own phones than men. Madhu is quick to point out that phone ownership leads to both social and economic growth, and women should be a part of this growth. Uninor started a project to empower women through education and entrepreneurial support, helping them to become telecom retailers. Early on, the project gained the attention of the GSM Association and the Cherie Blair Foundation, and it became one of three global projects to be included in the GSM Association’s mWomen initiative to reduce the gender gap worldwide.
“As an Indian I have faced many challenges in becoming a career woman. I am from a traditional and conservative family who did not initially understand my desire to work. At the same time, I also understand that when a person becomes economically empowered, it raises their status in both their families and society, so I was personally quite motivated to see more women become empowered,” explained Madhu.
Education and entrepreneurship
Uninor’s projects are generally focused on educating women about mobile technology and giving them the tools to run their own telecom retail business. Most recently Uninor has started a project for women to run shops that offer telecommunications services as well as solar-powered lanterns. In many parts of India, electricity is only available for 12 hours a day, meaning that the lights go out each evening. The female participants in this project can now rent out their solar lanterns for a profit, and provide light to families in the village. Uninor has also worked with India’s government to create a health information portal that women can access via the mobile phone.
“Women were so surprised by the magic of the phone… the fact that one little device could give them everything from home remedies to vital information on cervical cancer,” said Madhu.
Changing attitudes in the family
Acceptance is the word that Madhu now uses to describe how her family feels about her career. She explains that the international recognition she has received and the fact that she is doing such meaningful work for women has gone a long way to build support among her parents and in-laws.
“I think that because I’m working with women, to help women, my family can empathize and take pride in what I am doing. They are changing their opinions and supporting me by helping out with the children when needed, because they know that what I do is important,” she said.
We’ve got a good thing going here
“It’s been quite a journey for both me and for Uninor, and I think we’ve managed quite well to identify some critical issues that overlap women and telecom. I think we’ve got a good thing going here,” concluded Madhu.
A wife. A mother. A Uninor employee. An advocate for women. And a stand-up comedian. Madhu has done what many women in India think of as the impossible. But with Uninor at her back, Madhu plans to continue making the impossible possible for the women of India.
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