To make a difference, you have to have large aspirations.
Roshni Nadar
I am privileged to have the kind of platform I do and the kind of support I do. A lot of women in this country don't have that.
Our aim is to set some kind of benchmark and standards for transparency and governance in private philanthropy.
My job is to look after all our investments and ensure that we grow.
The success of SSN in South India inspired us to create an institution in North India.
Along with my dad, my mother's pretty high up there. She's a star! Her interests are so diverse - she's an art collector and a sports enthusiast.
Of course I have my father guiding me, and I have people who I have actually grown up with and who advise me.
I am the CEO of HCL Corporation, and, of course, a large part of my time does get spent in HCL Corporation, whether it is in actively managing our investments or perhaps even the governance and accountability and really seeing the strategic direction forward for HCL Corporation.
Schools like Doon or Lawrence in Sanawar didn't decide to create leaders when they started. Look at their alumni list today, and you have a former prime minister, Olympic gold medallist, army generals, cabinet ministers, and leaders in different spheres. Some kind of training started at the school level itself that helped create leaders.
Exposing children to nature, especially at an early age, keeps them grounded.
I did film and television, not having worked in banking or consulting, a very different stream. So I said, 'I'll go to business school, and it will help me decide more on what I want to do.'
My mother and father are exceptionally proud Indians. They always wanted to contribute, to give back philanthropically, especially in the field of education.
Media really excited me. As an undergrad, I majored in radio, television, and film and did internships with CNBC and CNN. My first job was at Sky News in London.
Having such high-profile parents could be intimidating, but really, they've let me do my own thing and evolve as a person. When I changed my major from economics to film, they were cool about it.
The important thing for my father bringing me on the board of HCL Technologies was to expose me to our largest asset, which is HCL Technologies.
When we look at really good high-performing companies abroad, they are always at the back of an extremely high-performing board, and that is something which is very lacking in this country.
HCL and Wipro are largely controlled by one family, so a strife with the board is not possible.
I am not interested in the technology business, at least not in getting hands-on.
Philanthropy is all about sharing. If there's an opportunity to collaborate, we will. Collaborating just for finance is pointless. It has to be like a business collaboration.
It was only when I started handling Treasury Operations that I realised all of a sudden just how much wealth we have. That is a huge responsibility, so I decided to get on with it and learn how to manage it, because I am a single child and have no siblings to share the responsibility with.
My day starts with my son and finishes with my son, and in between, I get to do everything else.
I graduated from Kellogg. I studied social enterprise.
Look at the exposure I am getting, and look at what I am learning from people at literally an arm's length. I am truly privileged to have that experience and even sitting and working with people who I have grown up with. You learn a lot from their experiences.
I did not want to be an engineer or be in information technology, and my parents were supportive of my decision.
Most of India is rural; there is a huge population in India not being tapped for their excellence. They have no access to great universities.
When students get into a great university, it's a huge aspirational lift for their village. These students become beacons of hope.
As a first-generation inheritor, the first mandate is to preserve our family wealth and hopefully increase it.
The largest expense in our philanthropy is capital expenditure because we are building these institutions. This institution-building idea stems from my father because he has the experience of building a company from scratch.
I personally think that people who are inheriting the wealth must have an agreement on how that wealth will flow from generation to generation, how they would like to spend it, and have similar philosophies around philanthropy to ensure continuity and scaling up.
Institutions need a lifetime to realize their potential.
