Meet Parag Jain Whose Daily Source of Inspiration Is His Wife!
Hi, I’m Parag, Director for Business Analytics at Voylla Fashions. After my IITs, I worked for 13 years in industry working in various functions, thus got an understanding of how each of the smaller business function works. However, I moved to startups to understand how these functions come together to make the whole system delivery value to the end customers. This understanding has made me look at the broader view of things and life in general.
The most inspiring women in my life are my wife and my Aunt. My Aunt taught me how to interact with people. Her soft spoken and polite words can touch a chord with anyone. The tone and tenor of communication ensure that she empathizes with the other party. By being completely honest, she assertively drives her points across.
My wife inspires me for a number of activities she can manage on a normal day. In spite of getting the same 24 hours, she still finds ample time to spend with our daughter, my parents, grandparents and also focus on her professional pursuits. The best part of my wife is her prioritization capabilities and the ability to focus on multiple things at the same time. The amount of hard work she puts comes as the worst part for her! It comes to a point where I need to ask her to relax!
I also see a lot of women at Voylla who juggle family and work– so they are a source of inspiration as well. Jagrati is an inspiration therein. She is the daughter-in-law of a Marwari family, yet she manages both family and work life rather astutely. Quite amazing! Being a CTO and the CMO of the company is already dual work and managing a family with in-laws and two highly energetic sons is no mean job.
I admire women such as Sushmita Sen, Jaya Bahaduri and Aishwarya Rai because in spite of being celebrities, they also have an active family life.
What attracts me the most in a woman is her self-awareness. This includes knowledge of one’s limitations, realization of one’s strengths, and how she carries herself and manages things in public and private settings.
Do I think women have to try harder than men? Yes and No.
Firstly, No because women don’t need to prove that they are better than men. Let’s agree they are! Indra Nooyi (CEO Pepsi Co) mentions it correctly, the biological clock and professional clock for women are totally at conflict with one another. E.g when you are thinking of moving from middle management to top management, it’s the time your children are in their teens and require special time. Even a woman CEO of a company will have responsibility towards her family, so this translates into one person doing three or even four jobs. Even a woman CEO of a company will have responsibility towards her family, so this translates into one person is responsible for three or even four fulltime jobs at once.
“The International Women’s Day for me is celebrating her uniqueness, because of what she is capable to handle in life “
God has given a woman qualities for being balanced. She is Ambika ('dear mother'), Shakti (power), Mataji ('revered mother'), Maheshwari ('great goddess'), Durga (invincible), Bhairavi ('ferocious'), Bhavani ('fertility and birthing'), Shivaradni ('Queen of Shiva'), and many hundreds of others. Her contribution cannot be measured in terms of monetary value, but her impression on the family.
As per me, it is important to respect a woman. Not because as men we are obligated to respect someone who is perceived as weaker. It is because given the opportunity and responsibility; they can be as good as men and even supersede men. We need to empathize that women are special because they are ready to make sacrifices that men can never imagine.
Kudos to the women!
-Parag Jain
