Legacy: Letters from eminent parents to their daughters by Menon, Sudha (electric book reader .TXT) 📕

she saw all of us through college and we became independent. I never knew that my mother had such a wealth of self-assurance and belief within her.

As a parent with a full-time job, one must not let work affect the way you relate to your family. Remember the time that you were studying in the US and the announcement of my becoming MD and CEO of ICICI was splashed across all newspapers? I remember the mail you wrote to me a couple of days later. ‘You never made us realize that you had such a demanding, successful, and stressful career. At home, you were just our mother,’ you wrote in your email. Live your life in the same way, my darling.

I also learnt from my mother that it is very important to have the ability to handle difficult situations and keep moving forward in life, no matter what. Even today I can remember the equanimity and calmness with which she handled the crisis on hand when my father passed away. You have to handle challenges and emerge stronger from them, rather than allow them to bog you down. I remember how, in late 2008, we were faced with a situation where ICICI Bank’s survival was in jeopardy in the face of a global economic meltdown. The situation was being analysed with a hawk’s eye by major media platforms and debated widely in the public space. The problem started at the peak of the financial crisis in the United States and resulted in investors and customers expressing doubts about the bank, given its exposure to global financial institutions. I got down to work, systematically communicating with all stakeholders—from the smallest depositor to the sophisticated investors, and from regulators to the government—that the bank was sound and its exposure to these institutions involved a small portion of its assets. I understood their concern because so many of them feared that their hard earned savings in our bank could be at risk. Simultaneously, I also advised staff across the bank’s various branches to lend a sympathetic ear to those depositors who turned up to withdraw their money, telling them to also offer the depositors a seat and a glass of water while they waited. And though depositors were welcome to withdraw their money if they wanted to, our staff also took care to explain to them that it would not help them to take their money away, because there was no real crisis situation.

It was during this period that I took a couple of hours off one day to attend your brother’s squash tournament. I did not know it then, but my very presence at the tournament went a long way in reinstalling customer confidence in the bank. A few mothers at the tournament came up to me and asked me if I was Chanda Kochhar from ICICI Bank and when I replied in the affirmative, they said that if I could still find time to attend a tournament in the midst of a crisis, it meant that the bank was in safe hands and they need not worry about their money!

It was also from my mother that I learnt the importance of adapting to circumstances and not being afraid of the unknown. In the 25 years that I have spent at the ICICI Group, I have moved across several responsibilities—from setting up new businesses around the globe to heading new functions within the company itself. When I was told to shift from corporate banking to retail operations, I personally felt like I was taking a huge risk because the bank’s corporate business, which I headed till then, accounted for the bulk of the bank’s balance sheet and profits. In comparison, retail was a very small business at that time, but I decided to take on the job and in six years’ time, saw it grow from less than Rs 200 crore in 2000 to Rs 100,000 crore in 2006 in the bank’s balance sheet. I learnt to always keep my mind open to new ideas and looked at each new assignment as an opportunity to learn and prove myself. Adaptability is a great asset to have because life is so unpredictable and things can change overnight for any of us.

I am often asked how I have been able to balance work and home simultaneously. I will admit that it has been a tough, sometimes exhausting, but extremely satisfying journey for me. Often, I would make it happen by giving up on sleep and on my ‘me’ time, tending to all the things that needed to be done so that my home functioned well even while I was at work.

While working hard for my career, I looked after my family, been there for my mother and in-laws when they needed me around. They reciprocated in kind with their unconditional love and support for my career. Remember that relationships are important and have to be nurtured and cherished. Also keep in mind that a relationship is a two-way street, so be ready to give to a relationship just as you would expect the other person to be giving to you.

My career would not have progressed the way it did were it not for the support of your father who never once complained about the time I spent away from home. Your father and I nurtured our relationship despite the fact that we were both busy with our own careers, and I am confident you will do the same with your partner, when the time comes. If you had complained and whined about my extended absence from home, I would never have had the heart to make a career for myself. I am blessed with a great and supportive family and I really hope you too will be as fortunate when you set out on your own!

I remember the day your Board exams were about to commence. I had taken a leave from work so that I could take you to the examination hall myself.