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| Contrary to popular norms are these savvy czarinas who have taken over the reins form
their fathers. Destroying long standing traditions, breaking into another male-dominated
bastion, they are packing in a quite a punch! Groomed to lead corporate houses into the
twentieth century, daddy’s little girls are proving as savvy, diplomatic and as worthy
of their financial salt as their male counterparts. Taking over from the likes of Brinda
Khatau and Zeenia Lawyer, these daughters of business magnates are out to prove their
mettle. Success Ahoy! |
 When Dr. B.V.Rao, father of the modern poultry
industry in India breathed his last, the heiress of his four hundred and eighty crore
empire was the thirty-four year old Anuradha Desai. Catapulting this young woman into a
position on which rested the future of her empire. Her training as daddy’s little
girl began when she started work at the industry in various capacities, since she
graduated in 84. Since then she has not only gained enough practical experience of
handling poultry breeding, but also associated activities with poultry. She worked as the
joint managing director of the V.H. group of companies till the tragedy of her
father’s death struck, and she was appointed the Chairperson of the group. "My
dad was a visionary and the thought of heading this company brought on trepidation, yet I
knew that I had the confidence. The idea of filling his vast shoes was one that brought on
some butterflies in my stomach, but I am still carrying his unfulfilled goals forward like
a sacred mission." And Anuradha believes that it is her passion, her personal homage
to both, her father Nana, and her mother who helped him set it all up. As Anuradha avers,
"Like all career women do, Anuradha also faces the tug-of-war between home and work. Earlier there was always the comforting feeling that Nana was there, right behind
us. We could always run to him for advice. But life definitely moves on!" Though
Anuradha has proved herself in today’s world of cut throat competition, her eyes and
the fond notes of affection that echo in her voice reveal how much she misses the
vitality, the charisma, the astuteness of her father who changed the face of Indian
Poultry. "I still have not been able to shift into his office and have converted it
into a library, storing all his memorabilia and all his speeches, his vision that I need
to fulfill. My ambition is to carry his goal of making our Indian Poultry Industry one of
the best in the world," says the business woman whose underlying resolve gives an
insight into the stuff that corporate heiresses are made of! |
 "Holidays have always meant hard work and training for us
as both Venky and me have been working and training... right from cleaning floors,
working in sheds, to the administration, sales and accounts. But the real test was
when he went abroad, believing that this was the best way for me to train myself, and
learn from my own mistakes. And frankly when Nana asked me to join the business I agreed,
for I had grown up with the poultry business and was familiar with the entire set-up. In
fact, my mom was the one who encouraged my dad in the initial years to give up his job and
start his own business. And though both of them were from well off families, she scrimped and saved enough money to help him start his own shed. Even the decision
to move to Pune and to start out on his own, was the one which my mom wholeheartedly
supported my dad in. In fact, my mom ran the Venkateshwara farm along with my dad for quite
sometime in Hyderabad. So in a lot of ways she was the strength behind his vision,"
reminisces Anuradha talking about her early years. |
 As Anuradha talks about the late Dr.B.V.Rao, she does not differentiate between the images
of a father and a businessman for they are intertwined. "Nana never distinguished
between Balaji, Venky or me. He did not possess any chauvinistic hang-ups. And my joining
the business first, was purely because I was the oldest. One thing that Nana definitely
was, extremely fair we were never favored at work because we were his children. Though the
initial advantage of being his kids was there, that was it. He wasn't the protective
father at work. I would be thrilled when both my parents would discuss how good I was at
handling the daily routine of the business, competent and confident. Besides at
Ventakeshwara we all work as a team, its just that I had more experience. My brothers are
both, equally competent and hardworking, they even work longer hours than I do," says
Anuradha who has retained the archetypal image of a dutiful daughter, a tag that she has
always been proud of. She witnessed her dad's unfulfilled dreams come true at the XXth
world Poultry convention held in Delhi last year and Anuradha has never forgotten her
professional muse - her father! What could be a better tribute, than to be able to
translate all his dreams into reality.
 Beautiful, yet intelligent. Successful, yet human.
Accomplished, yet humble - the Jt.director of a blue-chip company, yet accessible -that's
Sulajja Firodia Motwani for you .Sulajja tells me simply, when I ask her how she feel of
being the Jr. Director of Kinetic, "I had always wanted to be a part of the Kinetic
group . I had grown up with it and I have always wanted to work here. Besides one has
grown up listening to the discussions being held at the dinner table about the business and
the biggest motivating factor has been to work along with my father and grandfather.
The workplace has always been a topic of discussion bringing
the male- female equation in the fore, and commenting on this tug of war Sulajja
articulates, "In my class, which consisted of under graduates studying Finance in
the States, the number of women were always less than the number of men and I was the
youngest. Besides, being an Asian does bring about a lot of prejudices, but I learnt
to assert myself. So even in my first job, my colleagues had different expectation from
me, not just because I was a petite girl but also the youngest among the lot but once I
could assert myself, their attitude changed considerably." Sulajja worked at BARRA
International, a company in the States, where she shifted through the various departments
and finally worked in the sales department, gaining experience, assimilating and absorbing
the working culture that is prevalent. And the difference, she says, is acute, "Here in
our country, people are so complacent. There is far too much of security that stagnates
people, preventing any concrete amount of progress. While in the States laying people
redundant for not reaching to the company's expectations is very common, and this fear,
this niggling insecurity keeps the people on their toes, striving to better themselves and
constantly find new goals." And this stint abroad definitely did her good, broadening
her horizons, helping her adjust to the speed age, learning how to reap the benefits of
the technology when incorporated in the industry. |
 Though Sulajja intended to come and work with her grand father, her grand father's
untimely death dampened the joyous home coming plans. But Sulajja joined her dad's
company and then set to touring the market place not just to accquaint herself, with but to
also get a feel of the expectations that the dealers and distributors had from their
group. "I did stuff like stand at the petrol pumps and talk to the people about the
way they felt about the Kinetic products," informs the dynamic woman who spent at
least hundred and fifty days travelling all over the country. Talking about her father and
his style of management, Sulajja explains," He was always a hard task master at the
work place, but he always given me the full freedom to make my own decisions. He has
taught me that it is alright to make mistakes provided I learnt from them. This has been a
guiding philosophy in my life. Even the fact that he discouraged me from running to him
with all my petty decisions and asked me to stand by them has helped me turn into a better
director." |
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