20-year-old becomes Canadian high commissioner for a day!

New Delhi, Oct 7: A 20-year-old engineering student from Jaipur today donned the hat of Canadian High Commissioner to India for a day, holding parleys with top diplomats from other countries on gender equality.

Medha Mishra, who won a video competition conducted by the High Commission of Canada to win the "once in a lifetime opportunity", chaired a delegation on girls rights and flagged off a run for 'gender equality' as part of the mission's activities to mark 'International Day of the Girl Child' on October 11.

As the day drew to an end, Medha, who usually spends her day flipping through pages of coding and geometrical lines, was revelling in what she described was a "tough job". "It was basically emulating what a High Commissioner's day is like and honestly, it is quite a tough job.

I got to attend a session with a few diplomats that included the Mexican Ambassador and Deputy Ambassadors from Canada, South Africa and Australia. I am glad that I got a chance to do this, given my current skills," she said.

The contest she won required women from across the country to explain in a video, "Why girls' rights are important and what can be done to achieve greater gender equality."

Medha participated in several public events to create awareness about the importance of girls' rights including the run along Shanti Path with staff from several foreign missions in the city and students and volunteers. "I learnt that it does not take as much effort as it seems to raise awareness," she said.

A "staunch feminist", Medha has very strong views on the issue of gender equality. According to her, with half the population of the world being women, it is an issue that should be taken up globally. "I think it should bother us that we are okay with the metaphor of 'a glass ceiling and a sticky floor'. That is something that globally as a society we should be working to tackle," she said.

Medha was joined by Jess Dutton, Deputy High Commissioner of Canada to India, for a 'chat with diplomats' session at IILM Institute for Higher Education to discuss the issue of women in leadership with management students.

PTI