Women need to be celebrated every day: Phogat sisters

Women deserve to be celebrated every day, not just on the International Women's Day, star Indian women wrestlers Geeta Phogat and Babita Phogat said at an event here on Wednesday.

"No single day should be reserved for celebrating Women's day, rather we should progress and create an environment where every day should be Women's Day," the Phogat sisters said at the event organised by Ericsson India at its Gurugram office.

Sharing their real life experiences of overcoming obstacles to make a mark in a conventionally male dominated sport, they said, "We still have the dream alive to win a gold in the Olympics".

Speaking at the event to mark the International Women's Day, Paolo Colella, Head of Region India, Ericsson, said, "Diversity and inclusion continues to be a big focus for us at Ericsson since we believe diverse teams are high-performing teams."

"Every woman should have the confidence that they are no less than a man," Geeta, who won India's first ever gold medal in wrestling at the Commonwealth Games in 2010, said on the occasion.

"If we want to achieve something, we will have to put all our heart into it," added Babita, who won a gold medal in the women's 55 kg freestyle category at the 2014 Commonwealth Games.

The 2016 Aamir Khan-starrer Bollywood blockbuster "Dangal" portrayed the story of Mahavir Singh Phogat, who, much to the disapproval of his wife and his whole village, trained his daughters Geeta and Babita to wrestle.

What the Phogat sisters achieved in real life is now stuff of legend.

"You shouldn't lose hope till the time it's over!" the Phogat sisters said.

To raise awareness on diversity and inclusion, Ericsson has a special programme -- the Blue River Project.

As part of this programme, the company regularly invites leaders and achievers to share their thoughts with its employees on the topic of diversity and inclusion and making the workplace more inclusive.

(Source: IANS)