At a time Doordarshan’s sports broadcasting revenues had the stamp of middlemen all over, who walked away with the lion’s share, a woman leader emerged and told her boss, “We can do away with middlemen and get the revenues straight to us”. While many felt her dream had no foundation, her boss believed in her. She was transferred to Doordarshan from All India Radio. From a failed bid of Rs. 25 crore,. when all advised to lower the bid to Rs. 15 crore so the middlemen could step in, she promised in writing she would bring in Rs. 40 crore. She brought in Rs. 100 crore. The name behind that feat is of Vijayalaxmi Chhabra, former Director General of Doordarshan and a Commonwealth Fellow.

An Advisor of Only Women, Vijayalaxmi, the name behind the iconic tagline “Pepsi Cup brought to you by Coca-Cola”, spoke on the topic, “From middlemen to Millions: A Woman Leader’s Bold Bet That Changed Sports Broadcasting”. It was un unforgettable address and the participants were spellbound. Her story held the hall at Happyness Factory in pin-drop silence. While some moments gave goosebumps, others brought resounding applause on the story of how middlemen were eliminated and Doordarshan began receiving its rightful dues directly, thanks to the leadership and ingenuity shown by her. Vijayalaxmi shared how she turned around what was once a failed bid, backed by conviction, clarity and the support of enlightened leadership. A powerful reminder of what fearless decision-making and belief can achieve.

Her talk was rich with leadership lessons, encouragement to persist and problem-solve, and heartfelt advice on raising confident daughters. A master storyteller, Vijayalaxmi’s influence today, also evident through her widely followed Instagram presence, only reinforces her enduring relevance and inspiration.

We were equally delighted to host, alongside members of Only Women, a distinguished gathering of accomplished guests. Joining us from Kanpur were 𝐃𝐫. 𝐀𝐥𝐤𝐚 𝐒𝐚𝐱𝐞𝐧𝐚, Associate Professor of English (Retd.) and author, and 𝐃𝐫. 𝐑𝐚𝐣𝐞𝐬𝐡 𝐊𝐮𝐦𝐚𝐫 𝐒𝐚𝐱𝐞𝐧𝐚, Additional Controller (Retd.), DGQA, Ministry of Defence. The meeting was further enriched by the presence of eminent professionals from diverse fields including 𝐊𝐚𝐦𝐚𝐥 𝐌𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐦𝐚𝐧, 𝘍𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘳, 𝘛𝘩𝘦𝘰𝘣𝘳𝘢𝘮𝘢, 𝐍𝐞𝐞𝐥𝐚𝐦 𝐃𝐮𝐬𝐢𝐣𝐚, 𝘭𝘢𝘸𝘺𝘦𝘳, 𝐊𝐚𝐫𝐮𝐧𝐚 𝐒𝐚𝐦𝐭𝐚𝐧𝐢, 𝘈𝘥𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘵𝘪𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘧𝘦𝘴𝘴𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘢𝘭 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘐𝘯𝘥𝘪𝘢’𝘴 𝘧𝘪𝘳𝘴𝘵 𝘗𝘳𝘰𝘨𝘳𝘢𝘮𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘏𝘦𝘢𝘥 𝘰𝘧 𝘢 𝘱𝘳𝘪𝘷𝘢𝘵𝘦 𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘯𝘦𝘭, 𝐇𝐚𝐫𝐬𝐡𝐚𝐥𝐚 𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐨𝐫𝐤𝐚𝐫, 𝘏𝘦𝘢𝘥 𝘰𝘧 𝘉𝘶𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘦𝘴𝘴 𝘛𝘳𝘢𝘯𝘴𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘮𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 – 𝘐𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘯𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘢𝘭 𝘖𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴, 𝘛𝘳𝘢𝘯𝘴𝘜𝘯𝘪𝘰𝘯, 𝐃𝐢𝐧𝐚𝐳 𝐖𝐚𝐝𝐢𝐚, 𝘋𝘪𝘳𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘰𝘳, 𝘈𝘶𝘥𝘪𝘰𝘭𝘰𝘨𝘪𝘴𝘵 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘚𝘱𝘦𝘦𝘤𝘩 𝘓𝘢𝘯𝘨𝘶𝘢𝘨𝘦 𝘗𝘢𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘭𝘰𝘨𝘪𝘴𝘵, 𝘋𝘐𝘚𝘏𝘈 – 𝘊𝘰𝘮𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘩𝘦𝘯𝘴𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘙𝘦𝘩𝘢𝘣 𝘊𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘳𝘦, 𝐃𝐢𝐯𝐲𝐚 𝐌𝐚𝐡𝐞𝐬𝐡, 𝘚𝘦𝘯𝘪𝘰𝘳 𝘗𝘳𝘰𝘨𝘳𝘢𝘮𝘮𝘦 𝘈𝘴𝘴𝘰𝘤𝘪𝘢𝘵𝘦, 𝘚.𝘗. 𝘑𝘢𝘪𝘯 𝘐𝘯𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘵𝘶𝘵𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘔𝘢𝘯𝘢𝘨𝘦𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵 & 𝘙𝘦𝘴𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘤𝘩, 𝐇𝐚𝐫𝐣𝐢𝐭 𝐊𝐚𝐮𝐫 𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐝𝐝𝐡𝐚, 𝘗𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘯𝘦𝘳, 𝘒𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘦𝘒𝘩𝘢𝘴, ‘𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘍𝘰𝘰𝘥 𝘚𝘱𝘦𝘤𝘪𝘢𝘭𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘴’,  𝐏𝐫𝐚𝐟𝐮𝐥𝐥 𝐉. 𝐒𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐦𝐚, 𝘗𝘢𝘴𝘵 𝘋𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘪𝘤𝘵 𝘎𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘯𝘰𝘳, 𝘙𝘰𝘵𝘢𝘳𝘺 𝘐𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘯𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘢𝘭 𝘋𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘪𝘤𝘵 3141 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘊𝘌𝘖, 𝘊𝘰𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘯𝘵 C𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘵𝘰𝘳𝘴, 𝐊𝐚𝐬𝐡𝐦𝐢𝐫𝐚 𝐓𝐡𝐚𝐤𝐤𝐚𝐫, 𝘗𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘯𝘦𝘳, 𝘕𝘢𝘳𝘦𝘯𝘥𝘳𝘢 𝘓𝘰𝘨𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘤𝘴 𝘗𝘷𝘵. 𝘓𝘵𝘥., 𝐊𝐚𝐣𝐚𝐥 𝐏𝐚𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐡, 𝘗𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘯𝘦𝘳, 𝘙𝘪𝘵𝘦 𝘛𝘦𝘤𝘩𝘯𝘰𝘭𝘰𝘨𝘪𝘦𝘴, 𝐒𝐚𝐦𝐞𝐞𝐫 𝐏𝐨𝐥𝐚𝐝𝐢𝐚, 𝘗𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘯𝘦𝘳, 𝘋𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘦𝘴𝘩 & 𝘚𝘢𝘮𝘦𝘦𝘳, 𝘔𝘦𝘯𝘴𝘸𝘦𝘢𝘳 𝘍𝘢𝘴𝘩𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘋𝘦𝘴𝘪𝘨𝘯𝘦𝘳, and 𝐓𝐢𝐫𝐭𝐡𝐚 𝐓𝐡𝐚𝐤𝐤𝐚𝐫, 𝘴𝘵𝘶𝘥𝘦𝘯𝘵.