A life of many firsts, Naina Lal Kidwai shares her story of stepping in and ruling the proverbial man’s world. 

From being the first Indian woman to graduate from the Harvard Business School, to being the first woman to head an investment bank and a foreign or private bank in India, and the first woman to be the President of Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce & Industry; Naina Lal Kidwai personifies excellence in every aspect of her life.

How does she do it all? She explains, “It’s never an easy journey. Every working woman is faced with the question of striking a balance between work and married life and children. I don’t think there is a standard answer to this, as each one of us has to chart our own journey.” Sharing the story of how this Padma Shri awardee had to fight with persistence to be hired as one of the first three to be employed at PWC, Kidwai shares, “At the time when I applied at PWC, they didn’t hire any women, and even getting an interview with them needed a lot of push. But with persistently trying my luck for two and a half months, they finally called back and said that they were making amendments and hiring three women.” Sharing the struggles of working as a woman at that time, she remembers, “Frankly, when we travelled to smaller cities, we would face problems in finding toilets, and even at airports and railway stations, the toilets would be quiet unusable. So, if you look up at the challenges at hand, it is understandable why organizations hesitated in hiring women.” Adding a note about the changed times, she adds, “after all these years, I feel happy when my friends at PWC tell me that in order to maintain the gender balance at work, they need to actively hire more men, as the women applying at PWC are not just good but usually more superior than the men applicants!” And, the secret to her gleaming personality – “Being happy in the mind and positive in spirit is a cure for everything.”

(As told to Ridhi Lakra)