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BITSIAN WOMEN - YOU GO
GIRL!
BY
Himabindu Chitta ('02), Krithika Kalyan ('00), Bharathi Balakrishnan
('00), Deeptha Ganapathy ('95), Aditi Pany ('00) and Dileepan Narayanan
('00)
Business Leaders
Perhaps the
greatest testimony to a well-rounded education program is the
multifaceted leaders it is able to nurture and supply to the world. In
that respect, the Integrated Program at BITS certainly seems to have
well justified its intent. As we thread together the achievements of
several of our women alumni under the Corporate Leadership head, we
tread paths set ablaze with outstanding work, be it in Information
Technology, Quality Assurance or Marketing; glass ceilings lie
shattered by the way side as new horizons are scaled, and repeatedly,
we are awed and overwhelmed by some awesome grit and determination on
display.
The first time I recall contemplating the definition of a leader was in
a test in the Principles of Management course (popularly termed PoM),
where we were asked to write an essay on “Are leaders born or
made?” I don’t quite know the answer to that one
yet, but I definitely believe being a leader in today’s
corporate jungle places huge demands – you need to lead by
example, be a team player, make quick, sensible decisions and zoom past
a stream of success milestones.
 These
women have done it all – be it Akhila Krishnakumar
(’89) who is today CEO of SCT Software Solutions India Pvt.
Ltd. while chairing the AMCHAM Bangalore chapter or, Renu Muralidharan
(’77) who holds dual roles as Corporate Quality Head and
Delivery Head with Datamatics Ltd., Mumbai. Taking the world of finance
by storm are Srividhya
Rajesh (’90, MMS) and Yashodhara Mishra.
While the former is a leading Fund Manager of the country managing
Mutual Funds at Sundaram, Yashodhara supervises IPAC
Singapore’s operations as Vice President.
While the characteristic corporate leader of the present is probably
backed by a Masters in Business Administration or an equivalent,
another remarkable feature about these women is that many have made a
successful transition from the technical to the managerial side,
sans the extra degree. Steering the technical side at CSLTECH is Mitra Priya,
currently Director, with more than 13 years in the Software Industry
and a rich body of work behind her, at various companies. Prachi Garg is
another shining example. This spirited kid, from the Class of 1986,
EEE, is now Deputy General Manager at VSNL. Having established her
credentials in R&D, she has ascended the managerial ladder and
is known for her sheer command in the field and unique insights on
several issues.
The list is endless. It captures the spirit Sheena Verma imbibed
into a venture she started along with her husband, built and nurtured
through an entire life cycle, and the spunk of Anu Khendry
Assistant Vice President, Quality at Satyam Computer Services Ltd. in
Hyderabad. Each is a story of courage, purpose, and indefatigable drive.
Let’s begin with Anupama
Narayanan, a B4A7 graduate who is currently an Executive
with Bank of America at Charlotte, North Carolina. Multifaceted at
BITS, with a flair for Tamil Drama, Music and Math, she even
volunteered for the Chemical Assoc, while still a Computer Science
student. An accomplished certified six sigma Black Belt and
distinguished Master black belt, she sure is the apostle of a quality
professional! (Master Black Belts are Six Sigma Quality experts that
are responsible for the strategic implementations within an
organization). Anu has Masters and PhD degrees in Operations Research.
Before joining Bank of America, she has held various positions from
Senior Research Statistician and Senior Consultant to Director of
Finance and Director of Quality. A strong advocate of the home-school
philosophy, she teaches her daughter along with her husband at home,
apart from finding the time to sew, read and play chess. The key mantra
to success in her very own words is to get right back on your feet when
you fall, and know always that many others fell before you. And finally
the much needed shot in the arm – “Think (quickly)
before you speak, but do speak up! Your opinion may be the very thing
people needed to hear at that moment…” Touche!
Also among the first few to make a mark is Anita Gupta
(’81, EEE) who is currently heading the Wireless and
Convergence Business Unit at Flextronics Software Systems (FSS). FSS is
part of the $19 Billion Flextronics corporate, and is focused in
Telecommunication software. Not only is Anita’s business unit
the fastest growing business at FSS, she has also been responsible for
creating IPRs in the Wireless domain, which have been successfully
licensed to Telecom OEMs.
Anita believes that the software industry is a great place for women as
it offers an excellent environment, provides opportunities to travel
places to broaden one’s perspective, and a huge amount of
technical and management challenges! She advises budding leaders to be
involved in cross-functional roles, as one can learn a lot about what
goes into running a corporation. “Ofcourse”, she
adds, “while you work, don’t neglect the family
– be it your parents, grandparents, husband and kids. Whether
you like it or not, a woman is an integral part of all families
– and has to shoulder and plan for everything at both
ends.”
 Unusual
for a woman back then, Revati
Advaithi chose to pursue mechanical engineering when she
joined BITS in 1986. Today Revathi holds dual roles as Vice President
and General Manager –IM&C at Honeywell
International. She has successfully led the turnaround of
manufacturing facilities in Europe in post acquisition environment and
has driven strategy development and execution in a variety of
environments and functions – sales through operations.
Revathi advises young budding leaders not to get carried away with
trying to achieve the so called “work-life balance”
in the near term, as long as they balance in the long term.
“Stay grounded and have fun!” she says.
“Be passionate about whatever you aspire to be and excellence
will just follow you!” she
recommends with characteristic enthusiasm. Many amongst us would recall
the excellent reviews
Usha Subramanian’s classes in Computer
Programming received. Her handbook on an introduction to Computers and
programming was an absolute treasure. Usha began her courses in the MVS
program after her daughter was born and went on to ace all of them
while Chief Coordinator, Center for Software Development, BITS, Pilani.
She is credited with introducing online evaluation for the programming
courses, later extended to many others. To those of us present during
the transition, the significance is tremendous. She currently is
President, Learning Solutions at Ascendum Systems, Bangalore.
Padma
Reddy (’81) is two decades into the software
industry and going strong. She is
the Head of the India Development Center, webMethods Inc. and has been
responsible for setting it up from ground up. Everything about her is
versatile, right from the several managerial positions she has held
across organizations and functions, to her varied interests in baking,
reading and playing music. Her message for the BITSian woman strikes a
unique chord. “Let’s remind ourselves that we women
have been gifted with amazing potential to achieve higher goals in
life. All we need to do is surge ahead with hard work,
perseverance, high standards of personal integrity and a positive
“Can do & Will do” attitude.
Personally, all these traits have greatly helped me in my professional
life”, she says. Well nurtured and stoked by education and
upbringing, integrity and a positive attitude are indispensable to this
technology leader.
Corporate leadership may involve enormous multi tasking, taxing work
hours, enormous job stress and pressure, and continuously updating
oneself on the professional front. But above all, it requires meeting
with people – motivating them constantly; chiding,
appreciating, commending their every effort; simply making yourself
worthy of being at their helm. Women undoubtedly bring to this rather
demanding dimension an incomparable sensitive facet that is at once
exciting and calming.
 Swati Satapathy (’94),
was one of the few women to land a prestigious Unilever job straight
out of campus. After doing very well in her roles with Unilever in
India and abroad and recently winning the BITS 30 Under 30 awards
– Swati is, along with Chitra Balireddi ('96), among the
first two BITSian women to be offered admission to the MBA program at
the Harvard Business School. She nurtures dreams of starting a
for-profit social enterprise that will promote her home state Orissa's
traditional art and craft. With will written all over, successful
realization of this dream can't be far behind now, can it?
 Adventurous
Mythreyee
Ganapathy enjoys tinkering with new software products or
devices, shiking, white-water rafting, reading, embroidery and cooking
that is when she’s not managing the External Research and
Programs at Microsoft Research India. In this role, she focuses on
building research collaborations between Microsoft Research and
external researchers, building the PhD student community, laying
foundations for curriculum and pedagogical improvements in CS as well
as conducting market research to get a baseline understanding of the
research community in India. Prior to this, Mythreyee was at Microsoft
(Redmond, Washington, USA) working as a product manager in the Visual
Studio Academic group.
Prasanna
Krishnan’s (’96) resume screams
outstanding through and through. At
Microsoft, where she worked most recently, she was named one of 15 Fast
Track employees with potential to be future company leaders. At UIUC,
while pursuing her Masters in Computer Science, she won the C W Gear
outstanding graduate award, and her thesis was nominated for the David
J Kuck outstanding award. At Microsoft, Prasanna was responsible for
co-designing two patented technologies, and was among only 5 Siebel
Scholars, selected for academic excellence and leadership. Now what did
we tell you in the beginning!
Each story
inspires in different ways, and promises more achievement in the
future. And then there are some more who are just making a foray into
the Corporate World, like Indira
Raman who started with Colgate Palmolive in Sales and
Marketing, having topped the Business Management Program at XLRI,
and ,
an MMS graduate from BITS who is with Boston Consulting Group now after
a successful two years at IIM Kolkata.
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