Several of us were crowded in a hallway, waiting for a lift. It’s a fact of life in Bombay that much time is spent waiting for lifts, and it gives us time to strike a conversation. There were women in saris, women in jeans, women in skirts and heels, women young, women old, Westerners, Asians, all of them in good spirit. One of the women – wearing a badge with a red dot, showing, as you’d already guessed that we were exiting an Indus meeting, told us: “What I find incredible at every Indus meeting, and what I have really been enjoying, is the diversity of women I have been meeting. Indus is like a melting-pot”.

It’s one of the driving principles of Indus, and something we are incredibly proud of: how Indus brings together women who are so vastly different, because of their backgrounds, education, country of birth, religion. But friendships are forged, understanding is bettered, tolerance is cherished. As news of misunderstandings and conflicts between nations, religions, communities too often make the headlines, we should realize, we, at Indus, achieve something truly special.

What makes this possible is the way we all come together.

 We have two very special occasions to gather this month: the first one will be the Annual Event on the 22nd of November. The second one will be the Festival of Charities on the 29th of November. We urge you to come in large numbers to turn these events into huge successes, preserving the Indus special spirit.

Dinoo Parakh                                                             Helene Lecuyer