Shreya Dharmarajan, a Chennai resident, was appointed as the British High Commissioner to India for a day, receiving a rare behind-the-scenes look at the life of a diplomat and witnessing the UK-India partnership in action.
Shreya is a political science student and now works at Teach for India fellow teacher in a government school in Mumbai. On being appointed, Shreya expressed her views that the British High Commissioner to India was an incredible and enlightening journey full of enrichment and experience. She was able to interact and gain knowledge about women's leadership in various fields. She says she was fortunate enough to participate in lively discussions about India's efforts to further the Sustainable Development Goals.
As the United Kingdom's top diplomat in India, Shreya discussed advancing the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and shared views with former Earthshot Prize finalists about their innovative initiatives to address global environmental challenges. She further met with the women leaders of the Chevening SheLeads program and also met with Professor Ajay Sood, the principal scientific advisor to strengthen the plans of the UK-India research partnership following the G20 Summit.
The Women leaders shared their experiences and the criticism they faced in medicinal, environmental, and political fields. Shreya suggested that emerging women leaders to have a thick skin and be focused on their goals apart from being judged or receiving backlash.
The High Commissioner to India (apart from that day), Alex Ellis mentioned to Shreya that her conversations were focused on the role of young women in tackling global challenges to the UK-India partnership in science, technology, and innovation fields.
The "High Commissioner for a Day" is a program led by the British High Commission in New Delhi since 2017. It is an event that commemorates International Day of the Girl Child which falls every year on 11 October. The winning participant is chosen from a pool of applications.
