Women in Tech: Fighting Isolation in Mumbai’s tech scene
As it was International Women’s Day last week, we decided to do a special feature with one of the many strong women at Wobe — Preeti Wadhwani.
Preeti, who is in her youthful 20s, is one of the many amazing women in Mumbai who is gradually changing the world with technology. Currently, she is Wobe’s mobile engineer and she develops software that allows our customers, who tend to be Indonesian women from lower income groups to start their own micro-businesses easily. Prior to her current job, she plied her trade at a B2B company in Mumbai wherein she built container apps and plugins for business to use. Phenomenal Preeti — that is a Maya Angelou reference — is quite an advocate for women in technology.
Preeti has been organizing events and casual activities for women in tech in Mumbai for several women who are active in the tech scene. Such events have been helpful in motivating these women because a career in tech can be a lonely path — especially for women.
In her free time, Preeti loves dancing, trying her hand at poetry, and sometimes unleashing her creative talents in DIY projects like card making for all occasions. She also loves to experiment with gourmet, strum at a guitar and connect with new and exciting people, all while dreaming of traveling to exotic places.
Learn more about Preeti and her event in the following interview.
[Interviewer] Hui Zhen (H): Hi Preeti! Thanks for taking the time to talk to me. Please start by telling us more about yourself and your current profession.
Preeti (P): Hi there! I’m Preeti Wadhwani from Mumbai, India. I’m in my 20s, and I’m an Android Ninja. So basically, that translates to some crazy, inexplicable skills that I use to craft Android apps. My job is a lot of fun. I get tons of challenges to work on, it keeps me on my toes and my code makes a difference out there. The only downside is that I don’t get my own set of ninja throwing stars :( I’m currently a part of the awesome Android team at Wobe, an Indonesian startup aimed at improving the unbanked individual’s access to financial services, and helping them start micro-businesses easily, all with the software that we make. We mainly focus on helping the less-privileged Indonesians, especially women.
H: Cool! So, what does your typical workday look like?
P: I like to rise late, since I find morning sleep particularly delicious. My workday begins around 10AM, with this preference helped by the fact that the co-working space I’ve chosen is a mere 45-minute commute away, a stark comparison to the 2-hour commutes I’d grown accustomed to. From there, I work until about 6PM without any major breaks. Once my work hours are done, I usually spend some part of the day furthering my knowledge, picking up new practices, doing some physical activity. and working on personal projects.
H: You’re quite a role model for women in the tech scene. Was it hard getting to where you are now?
P: I personally believe that hardships are a part of life. After all, you can’t go up if you’re not starting from down. So yes, it’s been hard at times, but I consider myself extremely fortunate that I’ve been able to learn from those hardships, that experience iteratively simplifying the path ahead.
For the past year, I’ve been working towards earning my nanodegree credentials on Android, alongside my daily working schedule. As a result, I ended up spending all my leisure time studying, completely abdicating anything even remotely related to socializing — it was just me, my work and my studies till I graduated earlier this year.
Additionally, long commutes and even longer hours at my previous employer made me compressed my day into just my works schedule and my sleeping schedule, with no energy for anything else. Initially, giving up these things was tough, but when I look back now, I see how far I’ve come, how much I’ve experienced, and the impact I’ve made, and I can’t help but smile and think “yes, that was so worth it.”
H: You recently organized an event for women in Mumbai. Could you tell us more about that?
P: Sure! Well, Mumbai is place of amazing women in tech, spread out evenly over multinational companies, up-and-coming startups, and even the freelancer crowd. Unfortunately, these women exist in isolated sectors, communicating only within their umbrellas, never venturing beyond. I recognized this problem a while ago, so I organized an event in lieu of Women’s Day to bring them all together. Therefore, on 5th March 2017, I organized a get-together lunch for women in the tech scene. It was an open event for all women tangentially related to the technology sphere and it began with me personally inviting the ones I knew, and the news spread organically from there on out.
I had meant for the event to be very casual and welcoming so it was held at a restaurant in the central area of the city where there was soft lighting, comfortable chairs and basically all the works! It was a great event because we kept the flow of events highly dynamic and followed no hard-and-fast structure. We discussed trends, doubts, potential strategies, and gave each other guidance and tips. I also prepared a small gift for the attendees at the end, in the form of personalized stickers!
Honestly, the best part was having the chance to connect with the women in the tech scene. Women in tech need to be motivated and need to look up to other women role models. I’ve realized that the core reason for why some women end up leaving the tech industry is the lack of a welcoming environment. The work may be innovative and fun, but at the end of the day, women in tech just want to feel like they are not alone in our journey. That is why I really wanted to organize this event for the women in tech. I want all of us to collectively learn about each other’s problems, offer help as a team, and contribute in some way to fix diversity in tech.
H: That certainly sounded like a lot of fun. For all of us who are not familiar with it, could you tell us more about what the tech scene is like for women in Mumbai?
P: The tech scene in Mumbai can be likened to a frozen lake — calm and desolate on the surface, with vibrant life existing just below it. There’s scores of women working at companies, startups, and even as freelancer, and Mumbai is equally welcoming to both sexes. However, the real drawback is the lack of communication and networking between these isolated sectors of women in the city. Thus, I hope my event was helpful in bringing women in tech together as one family and they all benefited from talking, teaching and learning from each other. I also hope to continue creating a network of women in Mumbai to show women that the world out there, post-degree, isn’t as intimidating as some make it out to be, and that there’s a group of like minded women here, ready to help you transition, learn, and find your place in the world.
Even though the feeling of isolation in the tech industry is real, I want to break that barrier and get women to connect, forge bonds, find role models and share success stories. I strongly believe that by sharing a bond, and connecting with other women, that feeling and a general lack of motivation can be eliminated.
H: You talked about the importance of having a role model. Who is your biggest influence and why?
P: Natalie Villalobos — Women in Technology Advocate at Google. The kind of work and effort she’s putting to maintain the balance of diversity in tech has inspired me to create my own community, and reach out to fellow women technophiles. I love her nature — full of gratitude and warmth — and way she ropes in women in tech from every corner of the world. Plus, I would like to make an honourable mention to Adrianna Tan — my CEO at Wobe, who’s also made sure that I remain motivated, inspired, and welcomed.
H: What makes you proud to be a woman?
P: The strength, compassion and empathy that come with being a woman make me proud to be one, allowing me to push myself beyond the boundaries I set for myself.
H: Lastly, do you have a quote that you live by? Or do you have a favourite quote?
P: “Everyday remind yourself that you are the BEST!”
