By now, most readers probably know that Indra Nooyi is being promoted to the CEO of PepsiCo, a company with $38 billion in revenues. She’s been mentioned several times before on Sepia Mutiny, mainly in response to comments she made at a graduation ceremony at Columbia Business School last year. (There are several other posts on her as well.) And Manish had a solid post on her recent promotion this past Monday on Ultrabrown.
I draw two conclusions from her success. First, you can be a working mother and climb the corporate ladder while raising kids (Indra has two, who are I believe in their early/mid teens). Second, you can get ahead in the American corporate environment without sacrificing who you are culturally.
On the first point, there have been many recent stories about the difficulties facing powerful women. Maureen Dowd, for instance, recently published a book called Are Men Necessary?, where (among other things) she talked about the difficulty some women face in dating and/or marrying men who are less powerful or successful than they are. But a growing number of “power moms” are also flat-out powerful. And they do it without sacrificing their connection to their kids, as I think Indra Nooyi’s Nintendo policy proves:
She views PepsiCo as an extended family and everybody at the company is there to help in every way possible. Sometime ago, when Indra was traveling, her daughter would call the office to ask for permission to play Nintendo. The receptionist would know the routine and ask: “Have you finished your homework? Have you had your snack? OK, you can play Nintendo for half an hour”. She then left a voice message for Indra saying “I gave Tara permission to play Nintendo”. (link)
Have you had your snack? Ok, go play. Momma has to go acquire a multinational or two and pacify the Indian media regarding the recent pesticide allegations.
Secondly, you don’t have to sell yourself out and tell everyone your name is “Bob” if it’s really Balwinder. Nooyi’s story about getting her first job in the U.S. after completing her Master’s at Yale is illustrative:
A story of this determined girl, who while studying in Connecticut, worked as a receptionist from midnight to sunrise to earn money and struggled to put together US$50 to buy herself a western suit for her first job interview out of Yale, where she had just completed her masters. Incidentally, she wasn’t comfortable trying out a formal western outfit and ended up buying trousers that reached down only till her ankles. Rejected at the interview, she turned to her professor at the school who asked her what she would wear if she were to be in India. To her reply that it would be a sari, the professor advised her to “be yourself” and stick to what she was comfortable with. She wore a sari for her next interview. She got the job and has followed this philosophy for the rest of her career. (link)
And she’s not afraid of letting people know she is a practicing Hindu:
She lives with her husband and two daughters in Fairfax county, Connecticut. If you ever visit her Connecticut home, do remember to take your shoes off before entering. If you forget, at least remember to take them off before entering the large puja room where a diya is lit and the inviting air of incense greets you. She keeps an image of Ganesha in her office, and in fact, some PepsiCo officials visited India and received similar images besides being told of the Hindu belief about Ganesh being the symbols of auspicious beginnings. Many of them now keep images of Ganesh in their offices! Nooyi attends PepsiCo board meetings in a sari; for she believes the corporate world appreciates people who are genuine. (link)
Genuine, huh. I haven’t had that experience with the corporate world. 😉 But more seriously, the point is valid. One can acculturate without assimilating; it is possible to get ahead in life without selling yourself out to the image people expect you to inhabit. There’s no reason to be defensive about being a vegetarian, or preferring mango lassi to martinis, or cricket to baseball… and on and on.
Best of luck to Indra Nooyi!
A bigot is granted one excuse and given one answer in the hope of helping him out of his bigotry. So, Khazam, to answer your question I take pride in the success of a Chandra and a Saha equally, and don’t place either on a pedestal for the reasons you seem to which are caste-based and indicative of your self, your upbringing, and insecurities. The way you go on about Nambudiris and Jim Crows and recall at will innumerable slights or racist acts only confirms the amount of time you have spent in the muck you seem to enjoy wallowing in. That might get you votes in the Indian political scene. Here you will get laughed out, if not shut up.
A quick review of Khazam’s postings in this thread confirms his bias and bigotry against “Brahmins” and a proclivity to reach out for trivial examples to counter successful “South Indian Brahmins”. His latest only reveals his projection disorder whereby he accuses others of what he engages in. What he needs is a psychiatrist and time at a rehab. Perhaps he will find relief soon. With luck, he may even find a non-(South Indian)Brahmin, perhaps from the very underprivileged community he so stridently represents.
Khazam, the ranks of those Kerala communists you earlier gave kudos for helping Kerala rise abose its petty bias is replete with the very community you diatribe against. Who? Kerala brahmins. And per-capita, there are more Brahmins that have contributed to the uplift of the underprivileged than any other community, save the Parsis. And there are more of the other communities that exploited, and continue to exploit, the underprivileged than the Brahmins. And guess what, people of your ilk are afraid to speak about the latter because you’ll get castrated, if not have your throats slit, and you will know that too. So, like a school bully picking on those that are too decent to hit you back you go on and on about the Brahmins.
Tell you what, step out and succeed or help the underprivileged succeed and let’s all rejoice in that success. Until then don’t piss on the success of others, regardless of whether they are (South Indian) Brahmins or not, because of your failures. Get going, you bigot. For there are innumerable underprivileged well on their way to success helped by the very (South Indian) Brahmins you seem to disparage.
The audacity of comparing a Sabeer with a GNR or Indra, a Vinod {Dham or Khosla} with a Jayshree or even Nobel laureates speaks of your education and knowledge. Razib said earlier about some that have an itch to find bias regardless of the situation. You rank right up there with your apparently deep-rooted bias and prejudices against (South Indian?)Brahmins.
The Standup comedian wrote: “And per-capita, there are more Brahmins that have contributed to the uplift of the underprivileged than any other community”. Very funny. How do you uplift the underprivileged if even their shadow or their touch you find polluting?
So much contempt and jealous hatred for the punjabi khatris, but still not a peep against the Namboodiri brahmins who considered you Tamil Brahmins as untouchables or sudras masquerading as brahmins. I guess this silence means that you acknowledge they were right. Similarly, one of the greatest Tamil Brahmins being humiliated as a black pariah in racist America does not arouse the slightest indignation in you, but comparing non-brahmin luminaries like Vinod Dham and Vinod Khosla to some mediocrity from your caste does! Very strange kind of casteist pride you have.
This conversation has become absurd. You all will have opportunities in the future to resume your mudslinging about caste.