The Devis

Afza TamkanatArtist

Afza Tamkanat

Afza Tamkanat speaks through her art. Be it through the installation art ‘Ashes of Negativity’ where she voiced out the problems faced by the students of University of Hyderabad even while she was a student of the campus two years ago to being part of Mukta, A Telangana Woman’s Collective, she has always strived to create a space for every voice, especially women. A Master’s degree holder in Fine Arts, she has garnered attention and appreciation with her solo show at World Art Dubai in February this year. She likes to focus on women of this generation in her works and not just on the distress they face but also the fun they have. Through her series on watercolours, coffee and paper, she chooses to paint on behalf of every woman.

Gogu ShyamalaWriter & Poet

Gogu Shyamala

The depth and power of her words have catapulted Gogu Shyamala among the best Dalit writers India has. Awarded and honoured on several occasions, she has written books in Telugu and English, poetry, documentary film scripts, research papers on Dalits in India and on topics like racism. Some of her books include Black Dawn: Dalit Women’s Writings, 1921-2002 (Telugu); Furrows in Black Soil: The Stories of Madiga and Madiga Subcaste Women (Telugu); Towards A World Of Equals (bilingual), Oxford Anthology of Telugu Dalit Writing in English and A Dalit Poet and Death, among others.

Kosireddy LavanyaOrganic Farmer

Kosireddy Lavanya

Fourteen years ago, Kosireddy Lavanya switched to organic after realising how it brought down their overheads and increased profit. When she started working on the technique of ‘zero budget spiritual farmer’ given by Subhas Palekar, she was mocked by her peers for using cow’s urine for cotton and chili crops. But a bumper harvest at low cost proved everyone wrong. Today, the Krishi Ratna awardee teaches other farmers these techniques, who have managed to buy back their farms that they had to sell due to debt and low yield.

Meghana MusunuriEdupreneur

Meghana Musunuri

Twice awarded with the prestigious ‘Acharya Devo Bhava’ and having earned the title of Hyderabad City’s Woman Champion for ‘Women Entrepreneur on the Web’—a Google initiative, Meghana Musunuri remains true to her passion—education, philanthropy and empowered entrepreneurship. Her higher education in London gave her a new perspective towards education and prompted her to set up, among many things, Fountainhead Global School in Hyderabad, the first Indian school to be mentioned by Google for education. Her projects like Bodhivriksha Educational Society and My Edu Guru offers guidance and tutelage to students.

Nandini ReddyFilm Director

Nandini Reddy

Nandini Reddy might be one of the few women filmmakers in Telugu cinema but her movies speak volumes about her potential and passion for filmmaking. After assisting director Krishna Vamsi, she finally debuted as a director in 2011 with Ala Modalaindi. She won State Nandi Award for best debut director. Her style of filmmaking—family entertainers with women in sensible and progressive roles—has led the audience to connect with her films. She might have strayed into film direction by chance but is now focused on carving a niche for herself in the Telugu film industry.

Nikhat ZareenCaptainBoxer

Nikhat Zareen

Nikhat Zareen’s mighty punches, calculated moves and a calm attitude prove to be a lethal combination in a boxing ring. The long list of medals tells the story of the number of times she has brought laurels to India and her home state Telangana. Nikhat is the only women boxer from Telangana to reach the quarter finals at the World Championship held at Astana in Kazakhstan this year. Trained by her father, she has won gold medals at All India Metro Cup Boxing Event in 2016; 35th All India Inter-Universities Championship in 2015; 16th Senior Woman National Boxing Championship in 2015; Golden Glove World International Women’s Boxing Tournament, Serbia in 2014; 3rd Nations Cup International Boxing Tournament held, Serbia in 2014 along with several silver and bronze medals at international and domestic matches.

Dr Phani Sree SagiGeriatrician

Dr Phani Sree Sagi

Death is never pretty, nor is the final journey towards it. But Dr Phani Sree Sagi ensures death is at least painless, away from tubes and machines. Dr Sagi, Clinical Lead & Medical Director of Sparsh Hospice in Hyderabad, has taken care of over 900 terminally ill patients in last five years of its inception. Her aim is not to prolong life but to give dignity, peace, pain-free care dying patients in a loving environment. Patients’ family is also allowed to stay with them and all the services are free of cost. Dr Sagi, who holds MBBS and MD degrees in Internal Medicine, Geriatrics & Palliative Care, heads a large fleet of dedicated nurses, care-givers and volunteers.

Ranjana NaikHotelier

Ranjana Naik

A Life Sciences graduate with no business background, Ranjana Naik embarked into the serviced apartments sector a decade ago with a newborn at hand and poor occupancy rates. Her selection for Women Entrepreneurs Programme run by Goldman Sachs and Indian School of Business gave her the much-needed push. Today her brand Swan Suites is well-recognised among top 50 companies in Hyderabad. Her story was also a part of Rashmi Bansal’s book Follow Every Rainbow. She believes that women are 20 per cent more successful in business and takes pride in the fact that she has proven it to the world.

Rema RajeshwariIPS Officer

Rema Rajeshwari

The Superintendent of Police for Mahbubnagar district, Rema Rajeshwari holds a masters’ degree in Police Management from Osmania University. She specialises in predictive policing and crime analysis using data. Named best lady IPS Officer of 2009 batch while undergoing training at the National Police Academy in Hyderabad, Rema has taken up several challenging tasks in her tenure. From running successful operations against unauthorised immigration agents and drug network, she has also served as an Assault Commander for the Grey Hounds Anti-Extremist Force.

Richa KhetawatClinical Psychologist

Richa Khetawat

Richa Khetawat’s compassion for people and her frequent heart to heart interactions with them has prompted her to start https://familycounselling.co.in, an online professional counselling centre that promises a patient ear and guidance to their problems while assuring them the much-needed anonymity. With advanced training in Psychology Diploma from Edinburgh University, Richa’s qualification and passion were just right to fill in the void of genuine, qualified resource persons in the field of mental health. She has been working in the field for eight years and now and her masterstroke lies in leveraging technology – through Skype - and social media to reach out to more people and offer them self-help techniques through her two-year-old online venture. By keeping it primarily online, she has managed to keep the costs low for those who approach her and be able to reach more people.