Power and purpose: Grammy-award winner Chandrika Tandon highlights lessons from Indian educator Hansa Mehta's life

UNITED NATIONS: Grammy award-winning Indian-born musician and humanitarian Chandrika Tandon highlighted the lessons of "power and purpose" embodied by iconic Indian reformer Hansa Mehta as her legacy was commemorated at the UN to mark International Women's Day.

Tandon delivered the keynote address at the Dr Hansa Mehta Memorial Lecture organised by the Permanent Mission of India to the UN here on Friday.

Highlighting the lessons that nations and individuals continue to learn from Mehta, Tandon said the “power” and “purpose” that Mehta displayed through her life and work are an inspiration for all till today.

“The realisation of our power and to have a purpose which is higher than ourselves, and to live our life with this purity of purpose is I think the greatest lesson I take away from Dr Hansa Mehta. It's the greatest lesson I want for myself. It's the greatest lesson that I hope each of you will take away in your own way about this,” Tandon said.

The lecture was attended by UN envoys as well as prominent members of the diplomatic and Indian-American community.

Describing Mehta as an “extraordinary" woman, Tandon said the Indian reformer and scholar “lived a life of purpose which was much bigger than herself and she harnessed her entire power to make that happen."

"If you walk out of here, and I walk out of here with an inkling, with an idea that that power and that purpose means something to us in our own lives, we would all come together to make the planet a better place," she said.

Tandon said Mehta “saw things a 100 years before we did. She crossed the seas when it was so difficult for women to cross the seas, to write out declarations which last until today. She championed women's education for a very long time. And she was involved in drafting the Indian Constitution, which is still one of the most robust constitutions that we have."

A pathbreaking and accomplished business leader and philanthropist, Tandon won the prestigious Grammy Award last month in the Best New Age, Ambient, or Chant Album category for ‘Triveni’.

In an uplifting and empowering lecture, Tandon highlighted challenges from her life as she navigated her journey from Chennai to spearheading corporate boardrooms at Wall Street, experiencing a “crisis of spirit” and then finding purpose through music and meditation.

“My whole life has been a struggle with Shakti. It's been a struggle with trying to find my own power,” Tandon said.

She said that growing up in a traditional home in Chennai, her life’s path was laid out for her by other people.

"But my dreams were different. I did not want to be a homemaker. I dreamt of faraway lands,” she said.

“Having a dream is one thing but harnessing one's power to make the dream come to life is a totally other thing. It requires a Herculean effort,” she said.

Tandon also spoke about the internal barriers and labels she overcame as she was navigating her career path in McKinsey & Company, where she went on to become one of the earliest and youngest partners, and harnessed her power when she decided to form her own company.

“When I walk into the boardroom, I'm not a woman. I'm the best-prepared person that's walked into that boardroom on that subject. I'm not a woman of colour. I am the most prepared person and I did my best to be prepared," she said.

"So I made a promise to myself - I will never wear a label that weakens me. I will not wear a label other than what is the role and the task I am there to do,” Tandon said to applause from the audience.

Tandon is the founder and Chair of her advisory firm, Tandon Capital Associates. She chairs the Board of the New York University Tandon School of Engineering, named after a generous gift of USD 100 million from her and her husband Ranjan Tandon for engineering at NYU.

The Hansa Mehta lecture is named in memory of the pioneering Indian reformer, writer and scholar who had served as the Indian delegate to the UN Commission on Human Rights from 1947 to 1948 and is widely known for ensuring a more gender-sensitive language in the landmark Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR).

Mehta is credited with making a significant change in the language of Article 1 of the UDHR, by replacing the phrase “All men are born free and equal” with “All human beings are born free and equal.”

This year was the third edition of the lecture. First Deputy Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund Gita Gopinath delivered the inaugural lecture in 2021 and the 2022 lecture was delivered by World Trade Organisation Director General Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala.

Qatar’s Permanent Representative to the UN Sheikha Alya Ahmed bin Saif Al-Thani described Mehta as a pioneering advocate for human rights and education whose legacy continues to inspire generations.

Malawi’s Permanent Representative to the UN Ambassador Agnes Mary Chimbiri-Molande said Mehta was a trailblazer who “almost a century ago was living ahead of her time in leading the world to champion the rights of women at a time when the emancipation of women was not even a topic in the mainstream discourse.”

Mehta laid the foundation for uplifting women all around the world, she said.

Permanent Representative of the Netherlands to the UN Ambassador Lise Gregoire-van Haaren said people like Mehta changed the world.

Mehta's enduring commitment to the values of equality and dignity was not limited to drafting documents, Haaren said.

“It was and continues to be a call for action to ensure the principles she fought for in the UN and in India would become a living reality for all people," Haaren added.