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 Sunday, March 6, 2005, Chandigarh, India 
"Get the girls to dream big" Sushma Berlia believes that men have to be sensitised to accept women as bosses. The President of the Apeejay Stya group talks to Geetanjali Gayatri about how women can balance work and family well. She does not believe in the presence of a glass ceiling for top industry positions. Sushma Berlia, President of the more than Rs. 100-crore worth Apeejay Stya group, has juggled her domestic and professional life to perfection. For her, the sky is the limit and each year she soars a little higher. This year, she took over as the first woman Vice-President of the PHD Chamber of Commerce and Industry (PHDCCI) and she's all set for a repeat when she takes over as the first woman president of PHDCCI sometime next year. "It has been a long journey to the top. We don't have many women at the top, not because they are not competent but because most of us have our own priorities where family and household occupy centrestage. Also, we women need to put in a little extra when it comes to proving our worth in this male- dominated world," she says. Berlia might seem a firebrand entrepreneur pioneering a crusade for "her tribe" but she's not the feminist she may sound. "We just assume and expect that a man can handle five different businesses. When that is possible, why can't the women perform the balancing act when it comes to home and work? I just want to tell all the competent women out there in the world? It is possible, even if it means giving one priority over the other occasionally," this pass out of Delhi University asserts. Based on her 15 years experience in the industry, Berlia says that the problem in the industrial sector is that women foraying into business are not taken seriously. "Men perceive it as just of the many things a woman undertakes. Then, the other issue is slightly ticklish. While they are not prejudiced, they are plain uncomfortable with the reversal of roles," she claims. Endowed with astute business acumen, this Vice-president of Apeejay education society, which runs 25 educational institutions all over the country, is convinced that there is a need to sensitise men to accept women as bosses. "Besides, there is also a need to groom the girl child in a way that she learns to dream big and realise those dreams. Her family should not perceive her gender as a handicap. It is the parents and schools who hold the key to a better tomorrow for their girls," Sushma emphasises. She is optimistic that the time is not far off when women will take over as corporate honchos. Sushma is opposed to reservation for women in the Board of Directors to enable them to secure top positions. She asserts, "We don't need patronising men around us. In fact, just like the IT industry has blossomed on account of an 'enabling environment', the industry and government need to create a conducive environment to prompt women to come out of their shells and grow." |
