Nooyi on top of the world

A person need not rule the country to prove his/her power. Taking great decisions as a single person, creating business empires and maintaining them too is a great endeavor. Growing like that… Centuries ago East Indian Company entered India as a business merchant at first and became the rulers of the entire country at a later stage.

We, Tamilians, may feel proud that a woman belonging to our place has been selected by Fortune magazine of America as the topmost powerful woman of the world. (5 th place in Forbes). She is Indra Krishnamurthy Nooyi, Chairman and CEO of the Pepsi soft drink company. She was born in Chennai in 1955 and completed her B. Sc., as an ordinary college going girl, at Madras Christian College, Tambaram. Then she completed PGDBA at Indian Institute of Management, Calcutta. When she was working at Madura Coats, she got the opportunity of studying Masters in management at Yale University in America. She flew to USA. Now, she is the most powerful and best business woman of the world.

Anything will not be a piece of cake in life. Long distances were there for Nooyi to traverse. She had to burn nights, sitting in front of the reception counter as a receptionist to earn for her daily expenditure when she was studying at Yale University. As she went with a 50 dollar coat to attend her first interview, she could not get the job. When she attended her second interview, she went in our traditional saree. She got the job immediately, that too, in the famous Boston Consulting Group. She says, “Being a woman, being foreign-born, you've got to be smarter than anyone else"

For the growing generation like ours, what she says is : “Never stop learning. Regardless of ones age. That is my golden rule. Im not talking about academic knowledge, but being street-smart and being aware of whats happening in the real world. Keep your natural curiosity alive.” These lines remain true and matching not only for Tamilian women but also for every individual.