In the heart of bustling Comic Con Mumbai, where cosplayers reigned and comics flew off the shelves, a vibrant salon of It’s A Girl Thing (IAGT) was oozing sass, stories, and also a major main character energy! One of the leading forums for platforming the young women’s voices, IAGT brought sisterhood to Mumbai Comic Con on April 12th and April 13th, 2025, at the Jio World Convention Centre. It was all about nourishing conversations, celebrating passion, challenging stereotypes, and dreams taking the front seat.
For two days, the IAGT salon hosted diverse panels and conversations, providing an intimate space for women to be their authentic selves. The panellists included an eclectic mix of creators, artists, gamers, nutritionists, and unapologetic girlbosses.
Artists like Rytasha Rathore, Priyam Saha, Anasua Chowdhury, Chrisann Pereira, and Maalavika Manoj (Mali) marked their presence. There were some kickass gamers, including Riya Verma (Bachu) and Shakshi Shetty (Sharkshe), with nutritionists like Neha Ranglani, your favourite content creators Sameeksha Takke, Aashi Sahni, and Kinnari Jain, and girlbosses like Aakanksha Gupta – Co-Founder of The Other Circle.
What tied all of them together? Bold storytelling, unabashed honesty, and vulnerability. Each of them presented a unique gaze on the lived realities of women, struggles, and triumphant attempts at carving out niches in male-dominated spaces.
Singer and songwriter Mali highlighted the issue of women facing harsher criticism than their male counterparts during a freewheeling conversation with the Co-founder of The Other Circle, Aakanksha. The girlboss provided an interesting insight into this issue, saying, “No disrespect to the men out there, but a man is allowed to be a man. A woman has to be so many things before she’s allowed to be a woman.” She added, “It’s harder for women. But it’s harder for us because we have to make it easier.”
When women pivoted into areas that were conventionally reserved for men, it was followed with many stereotypes that shadowed the hard work of women. Stereotypes were designed to deter them from progressing, but the women went in with more passion and struck all of them down.
Talking about the stereotypes and criticism that women are subjected to, Shakshi Shetty provided an optimistic point of view during the ‘Girls Got Game: Slaying, Streaming & Staying Real’ panel. Despite the criticism and stereotyping, she had a hopeful outlook. She said, “But, as long as, out of 100, there are two girls out there whom I motivate to follow their passion for gaming, I’m more than happy.”
Sameeksha Taake, during the Niche Please! Ruling the Internet One Vibe at a Time panel on the second day, echoed a similar sentiment. While talking of how to find one’s niche when breaking into the content world, the sports content creator talked about how she is prone to stereotypes despite having played cricket professionally for 15 years.
On the first day, the cast of Waack Girls, a web series by Padma Shri Awardee and National Award-winning scriptwriter Sooni Taraporevala, brought a cinematic high point. The energy was palpable, and when asked about who exactly is a Wack Girl, Taraporevala said, “A Waack Girl is someone who doesn’t take s*** from anyone.”
In between panels, perspectives, and powerhouse talks, nourishment—both physical and emotional—took centre stage on day two. The Nourishing Your Heroine Superpowers session, moderated by Melanie Speet, featured Vidhi Doshi (@ramenhairedgirl) and Neha Ranglani (@thathealingfeelingpodcast). Neha spoke about how nutrition is foundational to well-being, along with intuitive eating for self healing and the gut being our second brain. Vidhi talked about the joy of cooking as an act of self-care. She said that Vitamin J (Joy) is what one can derive through cooking, providing a sense of fulfillment with every attempt.
An experiential salon consisted of activities ‘Write Letters To Your Future Self’, ‘Spin The Wheel’, ‘Doodle Wall’ by Aditi and the ‘Heroine Mirror’, where everyone could express their superhero dreams, aspirations, friendships and anything else that makes you feel like the protagonist of your life story.
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