I believe that who you are cannot be separated from where have you come from. I had a wonderful upbringing. My father was a medical officer, and used to get transferred almost every year. As a result, my schooling was completed at various vernacular schools. My mother was the only steady teacher for me, my brother and sister. Because of her, we have a strong academic background.
After my graduation I joined “Jain Irrigation” as a GET for a short span. I wanted to study further, but fate had something else in store. My parents had to take a tough decision as my father was diagnosed with blood cancer, about which I got to know only after he left us. I left my job, got married and became a mother at the age of 23 years. However, I will always be thankful to my parents for choosing a great life- partner for me and a wonderful family which is my strength, pride and support. Post marriage, I utilized 2 years (when my son was very young) for further studies. I completed my PG diploma in management and various IT certificate programs, and started doing free-lance jobs and kept searching for a big opportunity.
The turning point came when my husband joined Essar Steel in 2003. There was a vacancy in the PPC department which I applied for and got the job .Though I had heard about the steel company, I did not know much about the business. I have loved the job from day one and have never had a moment of doubt about my decision. I got transferred to the IT department in 2006 for new projects and then there was no looking back.
If you are ready to accept challenges, sky is the limit at Essar. And I have seen many examples in my 14.5 years of working here. The work exposure I got at Essar, I doubt I could have got anywhere else. I never sensed gender discrimination in my organization. In fact now, with the new initiative of PSPL, many women trainees are performing very well.
I have been part of almost all IT projects for expansion of the steel business in Hazira. These include the Pipe Mill, Plate Mill, ESPF, Plant B and Service Centers to recent GST project. On days, we have worked almost 14-16 hours /day. During some of the earlier projects, my son was very young, but I could manage work and my household with great support from my family. I am fortunate to have had good opportunities and mentors, which gave me confidence and strength to fulfil my responsibilities. I also got a chance to participate in Management Education program of IIM-A in 2010-11. I will always be thankful to my seniors for their continuous encouragement, guidance and showing trust in me. I like my team, the people around me; everyone is so enthusiastic, positive and dedicated, which makes my journey easy and stress free. I like being asked for my and my team’s participation in critical items; it gives me great job satisfaction that significantly overweighs the hours, the stress and hard work.
The most challenging part of my job is I have to be alert, updated and ready to provide solutions always (24*7) since I work in the most critical area of production and dispatch IT support to ESTiL. Knowing business with IT and multitasking is the key ask of my job. I look forward to grow with the business and technology and make technological improvements which will be focused on business benefits and cost savings.
I get inspired by the powerful ladies – I like the way Smriti Irani talks in parliament, Kiran Bedi performed her duties, Indra Nooyi, Chanda Kochhar manage their teams…If you read their stories, there is lot to learn from them, especially the way they overcome challenges.
My message to young aspirants is that in any sector you work, one should love the work, and only then you can give your 100%. Everyone has their own way of balancing work and life, the same formula cannot work for all. Expect only and only from self, try to give your best and never ever compare yourself with others. As Indira Nooyi said, “Never be happy with what you know”. Learning is the only way to keep self-updated and ahead of others.
Meet Essar’s Everyday Champions