Guts and Grace- The Woman with Greater Substance - G SreeVidhya- Head- Ravindra Services

It was in 2004 November, that I met a tall woman around 5.11'', gigantic and manly, strong looking with a sharp features, having three cell phones in hand getting down her black SUV for the meeting of the day. It was a meeting presided by Ms.Kanimozhi at one of our IWC members residence in Chennai. The debate of the day was whether women has equal rights in the society. Taking a 2 hour break from busy migration work in office, I wanted to watch the fight, for and against!. She was introduced as President of all women Rotary Club of Samudra. I thought what a big deal!... But OMG, when she started to speak, Gosh, I could not stop being her admirer. She began.." I am a different woman in a man's world, for today I manage men, chase them, threaten them, control them and respect them. " Many things were unusual with her, mainly her profession. She has been managing Ravindra Services which runs D Group Security Services with HQ in Chennai. Probably the only woman in the man's domain. She has an elegance and pride that is so visible when she talks about real domination in the man's world.
To me, she reminded the story of a stone turning to a sculpture. The more hits a stone get, the beautiful the sculpture turns. I was seeing a live sculpture emerged out pain, strong will, and focus. A broken marriage at age of 21 with two daughters in hand to handle did scar her life but did not tarnish her motivation to move ahead. She do not handle people who are polished and educated, she has to handle people from various walks of life, skilled and unskilled, educated and uneducated, rude men, and retired military personnel who are head strong and take it as an insult being managed by a woman. Learning the nuances of trade in a hard way, believing in the path set by her mentor Dr Ravindra Padmanaban, and today manages more than 3000 people mostly men. She said that she never thought that her gender should impact her profession. Strong mind, hard work, dedication and assertiveness are the core ingredients of her success.
She said that she takes unexpected inspections to the clients sites where her men are working to ensure no stone is left unturned as what matters is the security and safety of her clients who believed in her strength. At 1am in the night, with her two personal security guards, she takes rounds around the city giving surprises to her people. Today her company is wide spread and have clients in all major cities supplying security guards, gun men and escorts. Her pride lies that she protects her clients with confidence and does a perfect job assigned. If Chennai corporate houses, call centres and BPOs where people are working 24*7 feel protected, safe and secure, it is because of the best services provided by people like Vidhya who take their work as worship. It was a pleasant surprise to know that this busy woman loves classical music and is a trained singer, acting plays and also doing programmes in radio. She is making the Rotary Club of Samudra getting popular day by day with the realm of events and doing her bit back to the society, making it as a passion. She concluded with pride that both her daughters are now doctors who emerged to handle people with empathy. I think real woman, would have time for everything. The more of sufferings and endurance, paves a way for our success. Hats Off Vidhya!!!