Previous Occupation:  Indian Hotels Company Limited
Present Occupation: Vice President, Infrastructure Leasing and Financial Services
Sector: Financial Services
Work Experience: 15 years
Interests – Professional/Personal
Professional: Managing Uncertainty in Business Models
Personal: I am a trained Bharatnatyam dancer and even though I do not practice anymore,
I enjoy music and dance as expressions of joy.Reaching expertise in Life Skills is something I pursue with great interest

Can you tell us a little about your family background/history?
We are a small family of three and live in Mumbai. My daughter is nine years old and has strong views on ISB on account my regular absence from home during the course

Briefly describe your personal and professional achievements
Professionally, I feel satisfied with facilitating the closure of Investor Induction deals, Divestment deals, setting up and transfer of capital markets business to a separate Company and supporting corporate team with handling complex accounting issues
On personal achievements, I feel good about managing a busy corporate life and managing a family while staying connected and rooted at the same time.

Tell us about your profile pre ISB, and recap your professional life after ISB including your career progression
I was a Finance and Accounting specialist pre ISB. I started my career from ICAI campus as Chartered Accountant with Indian Hotels at Delhi; moved to the Lucknow property of Taj and then to the corporate office at Mumbai. I moved to financial services with a move to Infrastructure Leasing & Financial Services. A quest for expertise led me to qualify as a Certified Public Accountant, USA and take CFA examination, Level I. I did some satisfying work on aligning interpretations of some of the underlying principles in International Accounting Standards with Indian Accounting Standards in infrastructure space as a part of corporate team in JMD’s office. I worked as CFO of our Capital Markets Vertical for a few years which is when I also joined ISB. ISB experience expanded my horizons and broad based my perspective to include the full value network of a business. This helped me set up and scale up an independent product and help manage the Company strategy much better. Post ISB, I am a part of the corporate team at IL&FS. I support JMD & CEO in addition to my role as CFO of the Capital Markets vertical. The role is larger and enriching

Describe your fondest memory at ISB
I have lots of very fond memories of ISB. The class experience of learning with a group that connected so well was great. The gala dinners with beautiful music brings fond memories. Brazil term was great fun and the group work amongst efforts at staying awake are a few things that would stay with me

In your personal life, how have you changed post-ISB? Do you
see yourself doing something differently because you went to ISB?
What has left a lasting impression?
The holistic view of the business as opposed to a finance lens pre ISB is the biggest change that I brought with me from ISB. My horizons widened. The expertise and experience of the class gave some rich insights. The importance of teams and managing people well were important lessons. I would never forget the Strategy class of Professor Prashant Kale and OB class of Professor Henry Moon. I do things differently because I went to ISB

Most importantly, ISB for me was the start of a journey of lifelong learning

How do you think ISB has contributed to your career growth?
In one line: ISB converted me from a Finance Specialist to a Business Manager

If you have to sum up ISB in one word:Awesome!

What was the main highlight of your programme at the ISB?
The faculty was great, the class was rich in experience and the curriculum was selected well. The learning that followed was enriching

Word of advice for the current class?
Let yourself loose, unlearn and be willing to absorb the insights

What was your favourite course/class at ISB and why?
Strategy Class by Professor Prashant Kale

Was there anyone during your time at ISB who acted as a mentor
for you? Tell us a little about this relationship and why it was
valuable.
I had a lot of mentors from the class and each of them taught me something valuable and unique. The ability to have fun and stay humble in the complex world of competitiveness is what my mentors taught me

What are the areas that you can contribute in to ISB?
I try to reach out to PGP students specialising in finance. I have had long chats with some of them on their careers and I try to help with whatever I know. I have tried to organise infrastructure speakers in the past and it would be a pleasure to be associated with the School in another way that I can contribute

What do you enjoy most about your current career position?
The freedom, the opportunity to connect dots, the challenge and the opportunity to make a difference

What is the next new thing in the industry or vertical you are
working in? Any trends that you can see?
The capital markets space is struggling with the impact of economic slowdown and political inaction. From this struggle, new and more innovative models around the Indian environment would emerge. The space will become much more core business-centric and non-core functions would get outsourced. Investment decision making will become more transparent and become more data and analytic-based.

© 2012 Indian School of Business, Disclaimer.