Embracing Navratri: Conquering Fear and Empowering Women Towards Personal Financial Control

In India, the elephant God, Ganesha, symbolises new beginnings. This year, like every other, the Ganpati festival kickstarted the annual devotional festivities igniting a spiritual flame for the next one on the horizon, Navratri. Navratri is a celebration of the nine manifestations of Goddess Durga who is empowered to her victory over evil. Each of the Gods and other deities equipped her with weapons and powers to make her a formidable warrior that contributed to her triumph. This leads me to ponder why, in a country that venerates a celestial symbol of women's empowerment and victory, women are still dealing with self-doubt in managing their finances.

Let's explore the breadth of women's presence in various domains as the landscape is transitioning rapidly. This year in January, for the first time in its 68-year history the Fortune 500 list of companies recorded women leaders cross the 10% mark and a tally of 53 CEOs1. Another milestone in the changing demographics is reflected in the latest DivHERsity2 Benchmarking Report 2022-23 wherein women are almost 50% of employees in surveyed companies, as compared to 33% in 2021, a remarkable rise of 17%. The other notable growth is in the hiring of mid to senior management and leadership as well with nearly all crossing 30%. This was merely to set a background to the number of women in the professional field of services. There are many examples of those who are running their successful ventures be it family-run offices or small and medium enterprises. Finally, let’s not rule out the homemakers who have a thankless and endless job of running a successful household. Many of them are highly educated and qualified individuals who have voluntarily taken up the household responsibilities and some are on sabbatical to take care of the growing kids or aging elders.

I don’t have a report to substantiate the numbers but based on my conversations over the years, I have sadly concluded that many lack the conviction that financial planning is something that they can take charge of. Surprising, isn’t it? All these successful women who are either contributing to driving solutions to complex issues in large organisations driving growth for their business or even managing their day-to-day household budgets with absolute ease, shrink with fear when investments or financial planning is mentioned.

The nine forms of Goddess Durga, each symbolizing a unique strength, are a great inspiration and guidance for women to overcome fear and triumph in taking charge of their finances.

1. Financial Resilience - Harnessing the strength of a Mountain

On the first day of Navratri, the diety Shailaputri, daughter of the mountain is worshipped. This is synonymous with the need for women to build a strong financial plan that covers different financial goals, challenges, and needs that empower them to drive an independent and secure lifestyle. The plan needs to cover different scenarios and obstacles and the ability to make confident decisions that aid financial well-being.

2. Financial knowledge – Explore the available gamut of options.

The second day of the deity Brahmacharini depicts penance and exploring divinity. The path to managing one’s finances requires adequate knowledge on what are the various investible instruments and their characteristics. Before making investment choices, it's crucial to understand how each option aligns with your financial goals and risk tolerance. There are many ways to gain this knowledge through industry thought leadership events, public sources, or a discussion with a financial advisor.

3. Fearless Finance – Managing your own money with courage

On the third day, the deity Chandraghanta embodies bravery and beauty. Fear is the most natural emotion when it comes to managing money but the same can be overcome by acquiring knowledge on the investible options, making a clear plan based on the financial needs and goals, taking advice from investment advisors, and being bold to take that step towards taking action. One can start small and grow as they gain more confidence

4. Financial Arsenal – Tools for driving your plan

The fourth form, Deity Kushmanda depicted with eight to ten hands and also known as Ashtabhhuja Devi represents how important it is to be equipped with the tools that lead you towards your goals. While taking charge of your financial goals, there is a need to understand investment options like asset classes equity, debt, commodities and access those via stocks, bonds, mutual funds, exchange-traded funds, index funds, banking options like fixed deposits, etc. Further, the route to accessing these options; whether it's direct or via advisors.

5. Conquering Self Doubt- Declaring a War

The fifth day dedicated to goddess Skandamata is believed that she was chosen as the commander in chief of war. This is an inspiration to declare war against all self-doubt on whether the financial decision will be good enough or successful if taken by the women. There are fund managers, CEOs and leaders driving financial decisions for organisations today. A homemaker makes financial decisions on how to manage the day-to-day expenses with utmost ease. This is no different and that conviction is what is required to be bold and drive her financial plan.

6. Fearless on Financial Decisions – Drive your plans.

The sixth form Goddess Katayani, born from the anger of the Gods was to slay the bull demon, Mahishasura. There is a need to slay the inner demons that women fight with and that hold them back to gain confidence to formulate successful financial plans. There are many forms of guidance available today in the form of qualified investment advisors and a plethora of publicly available information that can drive the ability to make informed decisions

7. Illumination through Financial literacy – Gaining confidence

The invocation of Goddess Kalaratri represents the darkness of the night. There is a pressing need to illuminate the darkness created by a lack of domain knowledge or the reluctance to acquire financial expertise, as this can dispel the fear that often clouds sound financial decision-making

8.Drive Momentum and financial freedom – Liberating experience

The goddess Mahagauri on the eighth day depicts momentum and freedom. The exhilarating experience of driving and achieving financial goals that are aligned with an individual’s path and thought process is liberating. There is a need for all women to experience this as they are fully capable of driving and managing their funds. Being great multitaskers, they can empower and grow others in the community to grow this space further.

9. Driving Financial Goals -owning your financial path.

The final ninth form Goddess Siddhidhatri makes the impossible, possible. This reemphasizes that women possess untapped financial power that can shatter perceptions of dependency and self-doubt. It's time to unleash their potential and showcase their capabilities as confident decision-makers in the realm of finance.

As India embraces its multitude of festivals and Navratri paves the way for the forthcoming festival of lights, Diwali, let the celebrations symbolize a growing illumination of women taking the reins of their financial decisions.