Science And Sisterhood Headline India's First Menopause Festival

When you turn forty in India, society often hands you a quiet script—fade into the background, care for everyone else, and treat your own health and aspirations as secondary. The Fabulous Over Forty festival set out to tear up that script. Held in Mumbai, it brought together 45 speakers and 350 women to talk openly about hormones, health, identity, and opportunity. It was not just another conference—it was a community moment, a declaration that midlife is not a crisis but a rebirth.

“Women really need a safe space to have conversations about the science of their health. We wanted to put together doctors, specialists, nutritionists and influencers to reflect on life over forty for women and the opportunities it brings,” said Shaili Chopra, founder of SheThePeople and Gytree and the driving force behind the event. Her words set the tone: midlife is a conversation we need to bring into the mainstream, not a topic to be whispered about in the margins.

Breaking the Invisibility Spell

One of the most powerful conversations came from India Gary-Martin, founder of ACT 3, who travelled from Washington D.C. to share her perspective. She spoke about how women in midlife are often invisibilised—not seen in the workplace, underrepresented in media, and overlooked in policy. “We need to focus on identity and reinvention,” she said. Reinvention, she argued, is not a luxury but a necessity. At forty and beyond, women are not winding down; they are pivoting, expanding, and creating new possibilities for themselves.

This theme of reinvention threaded through the festival’s panels: from Identity & Image to Leading with Confidence and Work, Worth & Wellbeing. The message was clear - women at forty are not done, they are only just beginning to lead on their own terms.

Thriving, Not Just Surviving

For too long, menopause has been framed as an ending. But Dr Nozer Sheriar, senior gynaecologist, reframed it powerfully. “It’s important to know that post-forty, post-menopause, life doesn’t come to a standstill. Instead, it can thrive with the right support to the body,” he said.

Panels such as The Science of Her and Redefining Ageing gave women medical insights and emotional reassurance. From hot flashes to bone health, from sleepless nights to changing metabolism, the science was laid out plainly. Knowledge became a tool of empowerment, replacing silence and shame with agency and solutions.

A Second Birth

If science was one pillar of the festival, nutrition was another. Shonali Sabherwal, leading nutritionist and author, described this phase as “a second birth for all women.” She pointed out how even single women—an entire constituency often ignored—need guidance and attention when it comes to midlife health. Food, she explained, is not just about sustenance but about resilience, immunity, and the ability to live fully.

Her session tied in with panels like Food as Medicine and Strong at Any Age, which reminded women that investing in nutrition, protein, and lifestyle is an act of self-respect, not indulgence.

Reclaiming Intimacy

Perhaps the most taboo-breaking conversation came from Pallavi Barnwal, sexual wellness advisor, who spoke about the need to recognise sexual journeys as an integral part of women’s wellbeing. “Sexual journeys are part of wellness and we need to recognise that,” she said. For too long, sexuality after forty has been cloaked in silence or dismissed as irrelevant. The panel made it clear: midlife sexuality is not only real but vital to self-worth, connection, and joy.

A Community of Believers

The Fabulous Over Forty stage was filled with voices—dermatologists, life coaches, corporate leaders, mental health experts—all pushing against the same wall of silence that has held women back for decades. The festival explored how body image shifts with age, how women can prepare financially for longer lives, and how workplace cultures must adapt to accommodate hormonal health.

It wasn’t just about medical facts. It was about building a community of believers who reject invisibility, shame, and self-doubt. Every session reinforced the core belief that women in their forties, fifties, and beyond are not a shrinking demographic but a growing powerhouse.

Changing the Narrative

What Fabulous Over Forty accomplished was more than an event. It was a cultural intervention. By creating a space where health experts, influencers, and women themselves could speak candidly, it challenged entrenched stereotypes.

The closing note was simple but profound: midlife is not a burden, it is a bonus. With the right information, nutrition, support, and self-care, women can step into this stage of life with confidence and clarity.

Or, as Shaili Chopra put it: “Life over forty for women is full of opportunities. We just need to give ourselves permission to take them.”