By LISA TSERING
India-West Staff Reporter

SAN JOSE, Calif. - It's one thing to hear platitudes about how persistence, flexibility and the willingness to take risks are key in attaining success - but the message has so much more impact when delivered by someone with a life story behind it.

Priya David, a TV reporter, shared how her issues with weight nearly cost her a career. Motivational speaker Arlene Kaiser described her first life-changing trip after a painful divorce. Karyn Sununu, Santa Clara's assistant district attorney, told of taking on a full academic load at law school with two small children at home.

High profile, high-tech entrepreneur Anu Shukla described how the birth of her twins, 18 months ago, made her decide to quit working fulltime. And Talat Hasan, chair of the board of trustees for the India Community Center, relived her choice in 1983 to start a company with "very little capital, no mentors, and a five-month-old baby at home."

The event, with the theme of "Careers for the 21st Century" and mentoring, was organized by Indian Business and Professional Women Oct. 15 at the Holiday Inn Hotel.

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