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WOMAN EXTRAORDINAIRE Ranjana Kumar

In Chennai on a whistle stop tour to deliver the key-note address at the National Conference on Corporate Governance organized by LIBA (Loyola Institute of Business Administration) and NFCG (National Foundation on Corporate Governance) Ranjana Kumar made time for a quick interview. Preferring not to speak of her current portfolio she however shared a lot of success secrets.

“I am not a super person. I am just an average woman who prioritised her choices,” she says modestly.

Looking back at how microfinance (NABARD did a lot of work in this area) changed the lives of rural women she says “The self-esteem and confidence generated is amazing. But there were apprehensions in the minds of men about what would happen if their wives went into business and whether they would be neglected. Pardon me for saying this but this happens among the educated classes too. A woman running a micro enterprise all by herself in a rural area is difficult. So we encouraged them to come out in groups and pool in their collective strengths. The concerns of women are the same everywhere - that the children should be raised well and the husband should be in the best of health. The challenge is to balance the two having a financial income and satisfying the urge to do well on her own and not be seen as someone who neglected her family.”

Cutting to the present day when life for the urban working woman is tough without the support of the joint family which has often forced them to opt out of marriage or put off starting a family she remarks that “its not a very good development. Some kind of assistance is necessary from the extended family but it should not come in the way of their lives. More often than not its not a conflict between the in-laws and the couple but one between the couple themselves. Both partners will have to make some sacrifices - often one person a little more. Some goodies have to be given up like taking leave only when someone is unwell and not for one’s relaxation. Today a husband is lucky if the wife has made breakfast for him and left it on the table. Chances are she will announce that she has to leave early. Marriage can never be taken for granted - this is what I have learnt in my life. You should keep contributing to cementing this relationship and you must do it happily.”

A long distance marriage was also part of Ranjana’s life.

“For a large part of our marriage my spouse and I have been living separately. Now you have all these low cost airlines which are a boon for such couples. Distance never came in the way. It just needed to be attended to much more. I would talk to my husband on the phone, write to my children every day. I would tell them things like what I ate ,what happened at work. I would look at the funny side of life and they would look forward to my letters. I hardly socialised ..If in the course of my work I had to well that was it. I didn’t look at as a sacrifice. I would rather spend my time writing a letter or picking up something my children would like.”

Do some working women hit the peak in their careers a little late because of the home-family balancing act?

“They must decide how far they would like to go. Look at me I am 62 now.”

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