We’re excited to highlight the October LOLA of the Month
Congratulations Dyuti Pandya!
Meet Dyuti…
Dyuti Pandya started LOLA Mumbai with other Chapter Leaders amongst the 2020 global pandemic. While navigating a new Chapter startup in her city of Mumbai, India, Dyuti has led the planning of multiple successful virtual events to spread libertarian ideology to more and more individuals. LOLA Mumbai has hosted successful virtual events attracting over 150 people, including ‘How women’s sexual & reproductive rights got compromised during the pandemic‘ and ‘Introduction to the idea of constitutional political economy’. Dyuti is a final year law student and South Asia SFL Academics Coordinator whose life revolves around academics and extracurricular activities. As a well-rounded, educated, and passionate advocate for liberty in both her personal and academic life, Dyuti truly embodies what it means to be a Lady of Liberty.
We asked Dyuti about her experiences in LOLA thus far. Here’s what she had to say!
How did your involvement with LOLA begin?
My involvement with LOLA begin after I got associated with Students for Liberty, I was seeking organizations that would empower liberty but moreover give a platform for women to create a dialogue for advocating individual liberty and a freer future, and that is how I came across LOLA.
“The kind of discourse this libertarian alliance provides women around the globe instantly fascinated me and provoked me to be in a network of like-minded women. This made me realize that I need to join this organization and put forth my own voice in order to bring about a change around me.”
What is your favorite part of your role with LOLA?
Introducing a LOLA chapter in Mumbai and being the chapter leader naturally becomes my favorite part, having your own libertarian chapter in the city tends to ideate a different joy for someone who is passionate when it comes to advocating for liberty and bringing a change. I was fortunate enough to have my co-founders of the chapter as the people who instantly agreed on establishing this since all three of us shared the same ideas. It has been easy to demonstrate the same passion and determination when it comes to spreading the ideas of liberty. Furthermore, the girls who were associated with us in joining us for our events share the same ideas that LOLA’s mission and vision stand for. If I can sum up our chapter’s focus in one phrase, that would be manifesting a libertarian change in times shifting towards an authoritarian regime. The focus lies on creating a dialogue either in a formal or an informal way to have more women on board to spread these ideas. LOLA Mumbai started amid a lockdown that made us shift our focus virtually, so the events we hosted took the online turn and managed to create a voice of change through virtual servers.
Why is LOLA important to women in your community?
LOLA is important to me for several reasons, coming from a country where we need to give a reason to equate a stand, be heard, be taken seriously, this platform provides me the pathway so I can use my own voice while motivating others to do the same. The liberty movement in Mumbai is comparatively better than most states but still on a slow trajectory. A lot of ideas and thoughts need to be cultivated to manifest a bigger change. LOLA Mumbai addresses the societal issues by creating an interchange between women of all kind, the talk starts with issues that deserve our attention and slowly descend to understanding the importance of having individual freedom and rights to solve those issues.
Can you tell us the story of how you found Liberty?
If I had to point a time period when I actually found liberty or understood the idea behind putting forth an individual thought, it would be at the age of 5 after watching The Simpsons and resonating with the character of Lisa Simpson. She made me understand the importance of advocating rights, passion, and creating a change. But moving on after I started reading more and more, I was influenced by the ideological stand of liberty through various women libertarian leaders. This is because they ideated a difference and originated a thought to defend individualism and free-market capitalism. I was inspired by three women, namely Isabel Paterson, Rose Lane, and Ayn Rand whose works created a new dialogue that if life was to be something more than a transparent crawl for mere government favors, then a new attitude toward this had to be created. Another person who influenced my interest was Isiah Berlin whose work on the two concepts of liberty helped me understand the philosophy further.
How do you balance being a LOLA chapter leader with other roles in your daily life?
Managing my LOLA chapter and managing my academics at the same time is something I have easily gotten accustomed to. I am a final year law student, so the majority of my student life revolves around academics and extracurricular activities. I do this because I enjoy spending my time cultivating a change. I devote myself to my studies and activities equally and ideate a rational ratio to be invested in both. I do follow a strict time table to set an order into my life.
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