Kalpana Morparia should be happy she belongs to a digital era that sets no limit to the verbiage it can accommodate. After all, the titles used by many in the industry to describe her accomplishments would have overshot any piece of vellum! Soon to be decorated with a burnished metal inscribed with one of India’s highest civilian awards, The Padma Shri, Morporia is hugely regarded for her incredible contribution towards the growth and governance of Indian industry and especially the banking arena.
She has been an impactful mentor to some, a trained lawyer with across domain expertise to others. On the boards of several companies, she has been a high value contributor. G V Prasad, co-chairman and managing director, Dr Reddy’s, which has Morparia on its board, says: “Kalpana has helped shape many companies, including Dr Reddy’s. Committed and full of energy, she would turn up well prepared each time at the board meetings with a point of view and always advocating good governance with high financial performance.” Describing her as one who has “contributed quite a lot towards the growth & governance at Dr Reddy’s,” he says, she has also mentored some of its present and past senior leaders.
We also turned to Nachiket Mor, a seasoned banker, expert on financial inclusion, writer and a visiting scientist at the Banyan Academy of Leadership in Mental health, who had worked closely with Morparia during their time together at ICICI Bank. Mor, who calls himself as one of her many mentees, sees in her brilliance a fierce belief in what India and Indians could achieve. Describing her as feisty, committed and full of energy, he says many organisations and people benefitted from her guidance, generosity with time and from her belief in people and their innate abilities. What also makes her stand apart is a joyful approach to living. Others, who know her, have also for instance, pointed to her love for travel, ear for music and a joy in singing and dancing. “Her unique attributes have always tended to help her easily relate to the very young as well as the very senior,” says Mor. Narrating a personal anecdote from 1999 when ICICI Bank, led by K V Kamath, was listing on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE), Morparia was quite resolute in allaying any misgivings or fears and stayed confident early on about how the bank could make it happen. That she is now being decorated for her distinguished service in the fields of trade and industry is therefore not a surprise.