I absolutely love the look of surprise in some people’s eyes when they hear the MBD Group is spearheaded by three women.

Why just MBD, there are women leading an entire gamut of organisations, movements and campaigns. From spearheading business enterprises, being celebrated chefs and unveiling the complexity of genetics, to leading financial institutions, they are doing it all — and doing it with aplomb. Look closer and you will see it’s women who are leading the banking sector in India!

Clichéd as it may sound, but women have not just broken the glass ceiling, they have set new benchmarks with their performance.

All this deserves a harder pat on the back, especially considering the Indian scenario. India might have progressed by leaps and bounds, but the underlying lack of equality still ails most sections in the society. Here, praying to the Goddess is one thing, and giving respect to an average woman, quite another. I do not exaggerate when I say there is no woman who hasn’t faced discrimination in one form or another.

But I want to look at the glass half-full. A reason why we’ve got some inspiring women from various fields on our cover this time. Be it Princess Diya Kumari of Jaipur who manages her numerous business ventures, school, museums, NGOS and her political career, the Ayurvedic expert czarina Shahnaz Husain, danseuse Geeta Chandran or the enterprising Deepika Jindal, they’ve proven what it takes to be brave and come out victorious.

And victories fought against popular notions, to my mind, need to be celebrated the most. And through these pages in DW, we’ve been proud to showcase stories of many braves going against the tide, of being courageous enough to follow one’s heart, and be radical in one’s thinking.

So here’s to all the radical minds.

Keep inspiring!