‘Gender issues disappear at a certain level’

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What is proper for a man is proper for a woman. There is no particular work that is specifically feminine.” This is what author Ayn Rand had said in an interview to the Playboy magazine. Small wonder then that she figures in Kiran Majumdar Shaw’s list of admirers. For, the chairman and managing director of Biocon is a lady who had to break not one but many glass ceilings. Having chosen brewing as a career for herself (her father was master brewer at United Breweries), she became India’s first women brew master. But, did not find enough takers. When she set up Biocon India, her loan application was turned down for many reasons. One of the reasons was that Kiran was a woman in a man’s world and was wanting to do something of her own. Biocon India finally took birth in her garage with a meagre sum of Rs 10,000.When she wanted to recruit for her company, the issue was right back, staring at her face.

“The challenges I faced are well known. There were concerns that women really would not be able to manage the business like a man would. Then, India was a tough environment to work in, it was a time of unions and licences. There was a lot of bureaucracy, and they felt that it wasn’t a women’s job to deal with all that, “ she reminisces.

But that was in 1978, almost thirty years back. Biocon is today India biggest biotechnology firm and Kiran is the country’s Biotech queen. In 2004, after Biocon’s listing on the stock exchange, Kiran became India’s richest women.

Her’s is not a rags to riches tale. It’s a story with a difference, of a person who knew her mind, had the conviction to pursue her passions come what may. But, this is every successful man’s tale, you may say. Yes, a successful man’s tale.

“Once you reach a certain level of success, gender issues totally disappear. Today, I think I am at the same level, in terms of acceptance, as my male counterparts,” she says.