The Penguin Annual Lecture, hosted by leading publisher Penguin Random House, took place at a packed Siri Fort Auditorium in New Delhi on December 26. UNICEF Ambassador and internationally acclaimed superstar Priyanka Chopra delivered a stupendous lecture on “Breaking the Glass Ceiling”.
Priyanka began the talk explaining how she doesn’t like the phrase “breaking the glass ceiling”. Her father would ask her why she wants to fit inside a glass slipper when she could be breaking the glass ceiling but she didn’t want to go find something an break it, she simply wanted to be the best version of herself.
The actress listed out 12 golden rules which were a combination of guidelines and advice on how to break the glass ceiling. Her first point was “there’s only one you”, and she advised everyone to embrace it in entirety and to have the confidence in oneself. The second was to learn to recognise opportunities in life and that one should take every opportunity you get and work hard at whatever one undertook. Priyanka mentioned that she has succeeded in various ventures only because she “worked hard and squeezed every drop out of those opportunities.”
Her first few rules emphasised being open to new ideas, being ambitious, being brave enough to take risks to peruse them and working hard in whatever one did despite failure. She peppered the pep talk with examples of how she applied what she advised.
“When something I’ve invested my heart and soul, which I do with everything I put my mind to, if that fails I don’t just wallow in self pity… But then I get up, cry a little, dust myself off and dive straight back into life because the only way to push failure aside is to move ahead.”
Some of the guidelines were on confidence, ambition and other traits for personal success but the last few were more on relations. She emphasised the importance of a support system and the need to be take the lid off once in a while. Priyanka implored the necessity to be kind and giving in today’s age. She ended with the advise to never forget one’s roots.
The Penguin Annual Lecture, hosted by Penguin Random House India, was started in 2007 as an initiative to bring leading writers, artists, thinkers and key personalities from India and across the world in direct contact with audiences and admirers in India. 2017 marked the eleventh edition of the Penguin Annual Lecture. Over the past ten years, speakers have included thought leaders like the Dalai Lama, Dr APJ Abdul Kalam, Professor Amartya Sen, and beloved authors from both India and abroad like Dan Brown, Jeff Kinney and Ruskin Bond.