In a country where parenting is often rooted in tradition, one Bengaluru father’s viral LinkedIn post is flipping the script and turning heads across the internet.
Ajit Sivaram, co-founder of U&I, a nonprofit organization that educates underprivileged children, has sparked widespread emotion with a heartfelt note about raising his two daughters. His reflection, deeply personal and searingly honest, has now become a rallying cry for many across India.
“Raising daughters in India is a revolution disguised as parenthood,” Sivaram wrote, summing up the quiet resistance built into daily routines.
Every morning, he watches his daughters put on their uniforms and step into a world that wasn’t built for them, a world that questions their ambition, censors their laughter, and too often dismisses their worth.
“Every morning, I watch my girls put on their uniforms, pack their dreams, and step into a world that wasn’t built for them. A world that will question their ambition, police their laughter, and measure their worth by their silence,” he shared.
What stands out in Sivaram’s note is not just the emotional weight of fatherhood but how it redefined his understanding of leadership. “I’ve found the most profound leadership training no MBA could provide,” he said.
He spoke openly about battling everyday biases whether it’s relatives asking if he’s disappointed not to have a son, or neighbors assuming ballet is for girls and science for boys. “Because raising daughters in India means confronting bias before breakfast,” he wrote.
Sivaram didn’t shy away from naming the deep-rooted sexism embedded in seemingly casual remarks. Leadership, he says, isn’t groomed in business schools but at home.
“Leadership isn’t learned in boardrooms. It’s learned at dinner tables where you must explain why ‘girls don’t do that’ is a lie wrapped in tradition. It’s learned when your 7-year-old asks why that uncle said women should act ‘appropriately’ and you have to dismantle centuries of patriarchy before bedtime,” he added.
His daughters, he says, have become his greatest teachers showing him how power dynamics work in the real world, where exclusion is subtle and courage must be constant.
“My daughters have taught me more about power dynamics than any corporate workshop. They’ve shown me how subtle exclusion works when they’re not passing the football at the playground. How does casual dismissal feel when their ideas are ignored until a boy repeats them? How resilience is built not through motivational quotes but through daily acts of courage.”
And he made a call that resonated with many: true change won’t come from more corporate panel discussions, but from men willing to learn from the eyes of their daughters.
“Corporate India doesn’t just need more ‘women’s leadership programs.’ It needs men who have seen the world through their daughters’ eyes. Men who understand that diversity isn’t charity, it’s a strategic advantage. Men who recognize that the same system that holds women back is costing their companies’ innovation, talent, and perspective,” he said.
He ended with a poignant reflection—one that lingers long after the post ends.
“Every night, I go home to two girls who ask me about my day. And in their eyes, I see the question they’re really asking: ‘Did you make the world a little better for us today?’”
“Some days, I can say yes. Most days, I can’t. But I keep trying.”