While youngsters of her age are busy spending spare time socialising for fun, this 24-year-old is utilising her free-time raising awareness among women and young girls on the right and safe use of technology.
Today I am taking you to meet Karuna Kak from Pune in Maharashtra, who recently, successfully ran the Cyber Crime Awareness Series on SHEROES.
Karuna details, "Cyber Crime is a crime that takes place online and hampers the security and privacy of an individual online. Cyber criminals who are looking for personal information, like passwords, bank details, etc. for security breaches and identity theft. Women are often soft targets. Apart from that women are often harassed, stalked and threatened in the virtual world. The safety measures to be taken for online safety would keep us protected from various crimes so I started sharing these posts on SHEROES with #BeAwareOfCyberCrime for creating awareness about the crimes taking place online. It is my personal responsibility towards society, to teach them what I know. We all must do, it is nothing usual. Knowledge only grows by sharing, isn't it?"
Her question leaves me smiling. And her tips for women leave us all enlightened. Check out what she has to inform us to keep us safe!!
"I was very curious about technology and data, I really feel happy to help with a response when someone asks about technology in the Women in Technology Community, Digital Marketing and Career and Exam community," informs 24-year-old Karuna Kak, who is a regular face at the daily debates are raised at SHEROES platform. And I will vouch for the fact, that whenever there is a technology-related debate, she is always one of the most deeply involved ones, not just arguing the matter but also giving an insight beyond the usual.
Not many know that Mumbai-born, Pune-based Bachelor in Computer, Karuna Kak, is pursuing her Masters of Business Administration - Information Technology (MBA-IT) from Symbiosis International University, Pune. But about her efforts at SHEROES as well as gauging the time she constantly puts in to raise awareness among women, I ask her what's it that drives her to SHEROES, for SHEROES.
"Joining SHEROES has given my life a new direction. I downloaded the SHEROES app in 2018 to use the AskSHEROES Helpline. And the team must take a bow. AskSHEROES Helpline has guided me to do the right thing and implement it at the time of need during my toughest period like from switching from Corporate to College. It provides a helping ear to people's problems when they actually need someone to hear them out. There are times when I feel low and I cannot really discuss it to people around me. Then I simply ask for help and the confidentiality is kept secure. I’m so thankful to Shakun Vijay and Dr Adi for guiding me with through the issues I was facing then."
She goes on to add, " Later I explored these awesome communities on SHEROES. And also took up the SHEROES Campus Leads (SCLs) to upgrade my skills, for learning and develop leadership skills. SCL basic goal is to connect, learn and lead. As SCL members we are working alongside with SHEROES team and experts from the industry to build a strong network with tech wizards and pioneers from various fields. SCL has given me an opportunity to build a network with industry experts and students. Since Python is the most trending programming language right now, I have posted a series of posts on 'Python Basic Tutorial' which covers Introduction, Syntax, Variable, Operators, Loops, String, Functions and many more sub-topics. And I'll be posting about Basics of Drupal in the month of May. I'm glad to be a part of SCL," Karuna details everything very deeply.
And these days she is involved motivating other women. No wonder she is also the winner of the SUPER SHEROES Badge. And Karuna is quite elated about it. "I love that SHEROES is exclusively for women, and we can share our experiences, talent, views in their favourite communities without any hesitation of being judged and the best part, you can just be yourself here. Also, it’s a great feeling when you are appreciated with the Badges, Comments and Likes for posting and sharing valuable content on the communities. My recent favourite communities are SHEROES News, SHE Drives Data, Money Matters and SCL."
Karuna goes on to add that once she is done with her Master's Exams, it's payback time! She tells me, "For now, my main focus is on SCL Programme. I would love to start my own community may be after completion of my studies. I would love to attend and contribute to the SHEROES Summit through the tech skills I have."
Her determination and focused life leaves me smiling. But natural I ask her, who is the young Karuna at heart, behind the tech Ninja that she is? She laughs and responds," Well Karuna is someone who tries to see the positive side of all the things and she will never give up on anything. She keeps trying and exploring new things. A typical day at present when I’m back to college from the corporate: I’m juggling with assignments, presentations, research papers, exams, case studies, exploring tools, technologies and programming languages from morning to evening."
And what are your future aspirations in life?
"My future aspiration is to the lead teams in technological companies. I want to develop skills such as leadership, strategic thinking, project management, team management. I wish to motivate my future team members and make sure that they grow with the company.
These skills will enable me to become a successful IT leader and prepare myself for more challenging assignments. I want to work in an environment where I get to work with cross-functional teams and cross-cultural teams in an organization and not just hardcore technical stuff," says a very mentally sorted and focused Karuna, who took time out for this interview, during her ongoing Master's Exams. So not taking much of her time, I ask her to wrap the interaction with something to motivate the women. She writes:
"Believe in yourself and most importantly love yourself. Keep going. Everything you need will come to you at the perfect time. Difficult roads often lead to beautiful destinations.”
That was Karuna Kak in our ongoing #MeetTheSHEROES series. Follow Karuna on SHEROES, But before that do leave some love for her in the comments below and also share her story. Because every share means one more person inspired!