Smriti Mandhana is the highest paid woman in IPL- Rs 3.4 crores. KL Rahul is the highest paid Indian Cricketer in IPL with 17 crores, Sam Curran highest paid in IPL with 18.5 Crores. In fact, Mandhana is no way close to the top 50 highest-paid male cricketers at IPL. Prithvi Shaw stands at number 50 among male players. He was retained by Delhi Capitals for  ₹7.5 crore. Even though it looks really small in comparison, it is still a matter of whistling, clapping and screaming with joy and excitement.

‘I don't want to take off my lipstick’, Katherine Switzer had screamt at the starting point of the Boston Marathon more than 50 years ago. Her boyfriend had asked her to remove the lipstick so that she doesn’t get noticed in the only male area. She was there, as a woman, the first woman to run the marathon. Some distance into running, she was attacked by a man who wanted her to leave the tracks. That man was pushed aside by her coach and some friends and they completed the run despite obstacles. That was the first time a woman finished a marathon. In the following years, KV Switzer became an ambassador of women runners and the man who had tried to push her aside, became a crusader for women runners too.  

The beginning is more remarkable than the journey.

It is not about the comparison of where Smriti Mandhana’s IPL auction stands in comparison to men in IPL, but it is about celebrating the new beginnings, no matter how small they look. This win is a victory over biases and with time and persistence, it will change too.

Professional working women whether in sports or in corporate life, have been facing biases.. It is not a faction here and a faction there, it is the whole community of working women that marches with their energy and effort targeted towards fighting biases, human made biases. To change the bias is to change the perception, and that is our responsibility.

K V Switzer ran wearing her lipstick, Mandhana watched the auction sitting  in her cricket jersey, Sania Mirza bowed out of professional tennis in her often criticized skirt holding her baby. It is not what they wear or they carry, it is the scent of their soul that is remarkable. It is not just the scent of women in sports, it is the Scent of a working woman.

Next week, across several workplaces, there will be celebrations for International Women’s Day. The true celebration is to appreciate the strength of a working woman,celebrate not what she achieves, but celebrate how she is, just her being, just the scent of her soul, whether working in sports, arts, corporate or any professional stream.

Keep SCENT in mind where S is for her staying power, C for her invisible courage, E is her ability to empower people around her, N for negating the negativity that boosts her staying power and her courage and T is for pure talent.

S- is for the staying power in a working woman

Women carry on far longer than anyone. Not giving up, not succumbing under the pressure is a trait that is invisible. It may look like a small win but they stay longer than average expectations and eventually end in a triumph.

Sania Mirza retired from professional tennis last week, after a series of spectacular performances in the last few seasons. BBC article wrote- India tennis icon who showed hate could be defeated. The same article has an excerpt:

When Rajdeep Sardesai, one of India's most respected journalists, asked her about "settling down" during an interview in 2016, she chided him for "sounding disappointed I'm not choosing motherhood over being number one in the world".

"That's the question I face all the time as a woman, that all women have to face - the first is marriage and then it's motherhood. Unfortunately, that's when we're settled, and no matter how many Wimbledons we win," she said.

C- Courage of a working woman  

Working women are far more courageous than you can see. Her determination to succeed is fuelled by courage, and maybe her courage is fuelled by the biases she faces. Sania Mirza was criticized for her attire, for her sport and even for her marriage. She rose above all criticism. BBC writes, ‘Eventually, Mirza managed to do something seemingly impossible - transcend these differences to become a South Asian icon instead of just an Indian one. It's a testament to how Mirza managed unapologetically to dismantle notions about what she should or shouldn't do.’

E- A working woman empowers

She has a definitive approach to empower people around her. Empowering is an ability that comes with nurturing. The ability to give birth, the ability to nurture gives her a natural tendency towards empowering people around them. It is not just creating positions or giving a seat of honor, empowering is helping someone believe that they can do the job, trusting him or her with the responsibility and guiding them to be independent.

N-negate the negative energy

Women are doers, working women are more so. They focus on constructive energy at work and negate the negative energy. Did you know men procrastinate more than women? A research study provides robust evidence that males tended to procrastinate more than females in general that the procrastination tendencies do not vary based on socio demographic situations, including socioeconomic status, multiculturalism, nationality, family size, and educational background.

T -The talent of a Working Woman

Neither talkative, nor tough, if you have to hold one word for T in mind, keep talented. Women are talented. There is always a way to overshadow the talent with other aspects, like circumstances, opportunities, luck and the talent gets hidden. When working on perception and fighting the biases, do not discount just the sheer talent that a woman brings in her work.

She has the staying power, her courage & empowering behavior coupled with her attitude to negate the negative energy makes her talent shine through. This International Women’s day raise a toast for the SCENT of a working woman.

P.S. The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has announced equal match fees for both its male and female international cricketers in October 2022, setting a historic precedent.