The core of a relationship that started at the impressionable age of 24, highlights ‘cohesiveness’ in their two decades of togetherness. It did not matter that Asmita Agarwal hailed from a business family and that Vinay Prakash Goel’s folks were always into professional careers. With a B.Sc. from Lucknow University, Asmita Goel’s natural ability for crafts and design earned her a diploma in fashion designing. A homemaker by choice, her dynamism continues with her first love for design. Her passion towards design has resulted in her role as a non-commercial wardrobe consultant and stylist. Her passion to positively impact society is reflected in her social work with NGOs like Bagiya and Pure Hearts foundation. Vinay happily gives credit to Asmita for being the ‘backbone’ for his success. A mechanical engineer from IET Lucknow, he made his sojourn as a campus recruit with the Aditya Birla Group, paving career heights gradually with companies Indo Gulf Fertilisers, Birla Copper and the Adani Group in 2001 where he has since continued and heralds his position as the CEO of its Mining and Trading wing. A peek into their lives together with Corporate Citizen
“It was the evening of 11th August 1997, when we first met through our parents and frankly speaking, we hardly spent 20 to 25 minutes speaking to each other. Back then, both of us seemed very reluctant to speak but, gradually as we spent more time with each other, we kind of got along quite well...” reminisced Asmita Goel. The marriage though arranged, the courtship phase for Asmita was a journey in itself. “It started off from being a formal introduction to the shy stage to becoming friends to fiancé and finally it turned out to be a love-cum-arranged marriage.”
Vinay Prakash Goel’s family background, primarily into service professions, assimilated Asmita’s joint family values into the Goel family. “Asmita’s upbringing had been in a joint family and that I think is one of the reasons why my parents saw a perfect match in her for me. As we met more frequently and also our family members interacted more often, we saw a natural compatibility between both the families”, said Vinay Prakash Goel.
For Asmita, it was her father’s verdict on Mr Vinay Goel that paved her matrimonial path. “It was my father who had seen him as an ambitious person besides coming from a very good family. Both of us have lovely parents and siblings and all of us kind of get along very well.”
Not just the win-win family amicability but, ‘simplicity’ in their overall bearing has stood the test of time. “...I think the quality which stands out the most in both of us is our simplicity. Being from humble family backgrounds, there are some things which come naturally to us and simplicity is just one of them!” said Asmita.
While their individual upbringing acted as an alloy for marital synergies, Vinay believes that, “Asmita’s upbringing in a joint family has had a deep impact on the values that our children have imbibed. She brought a sense of togetherness in our family”; to which Asmita said, “Simplicity, discipline, concern for others and focused approach have been imbibed from Vinay’s family.”
Asmita’s upbringing had been in a joint family and that I think is one of the reasons why my parents saw a perfect match in her for me. As we met more frequently and also our family members interacted more often, we saw a natural compatibility between both the families
— Vinay Prakash Goel
Vinay Prakash—
bridging employer and
employee gapDefinitely not your typical ‘love at first sight’, but Asmita and Vinay Prakash Goel laud each other’s individual contributions in their journey together which defines their terminology of ‘love’ entwined with ‘trust’.
“Frankly speaking, she has managed her social and family commitments, the associations with NGOs with almost negligible contribution from me, but I wish that post the 25 years of our marriage, we would reverse our roles...” said Vinay Goel. “Asmita is the backbone of our family and has ensured that I do not have to worry about anything related to family. Many a time, she has performed dual responsibilities of being a mother and a father too,” he said.
On the parameters for building a successful marriage, Asmita confesses that, “I don’t know the definition of a ‘successful marriage’. But, certainly can say that there are two things which are most important in a marriage—one is trust and second is in understanding the feelings of the other person.”
The Goels at the Delhi Half MarathonVinay quips saying, “I too agree that the most important thing in a relationship is ‘trust’, which allows you to share everything with the other person without any fear. The lack of fear is very important in a relationship which helps to bridge the gap between a couple and that comes from trusting the other person...”
If admiration be a component of any relationship, then Vinay and Asmita Goel are quite vocal about this. “...I admire Vinay’s passionate character and his ‘Never say die’ attitude. I like the fact that he is a complete family man. He treats his office colleagues and their family members as part of his extended family and frequently involves office colleagues in our family events and involves us in the events of his office. Through this, he has integrated his office and us akin to a joint family. His statement of bringing a smile to his 20,000 family members in office by sacrificing a few at home makes me proud,” said Asmita.
Expressing his admiration for Asmita, Vinay said, “I have always found Asmita’s presence of mind very fascinating. She has a brilliant ability to anticipate things and plan accordingly. Frankly speaking, she is stronger than me in dealing with any medical issues. Most importantly, she is very caring and gentle and values our family more than anything else.”
Vinay and Asmita—family extensions and moreOn managing differences, Asmita categorically said that “While we have had differences of opinion on multiple things in the past and I am sure we would have such differences in future too, but we have always respected the two aspects —mutual trust and understanding— and ensured that they remain intact.”
Like other couples, Asmita and Vinay too have their own likes and dislikes but, with a silent approval for each other’s interests. “I like shopping and Vinay dislikes the same, but every now and then he will surprise me by buying something, which I would have wanted for some time,” said Asmita.
On the hobby front, both Vinay and Asmita enjoy going out for movies, spending evenings listening to Sufi music, exploring new travel destinations or countries. Asmita has lately been following cricket to sync in with Vinay’s deep interest in the game. For Asmita, it is a ploy perhaps to bond with the two men in her life—hubby, Vinay and son, Pranjal! An ‘effervescent’ soul, Asmita finds solace in dancing and exploring regional cultural festivals too.
“I too agree that the most important thing in a relationship is ‘trust’, which allows you to share everything with the other person without any fear. The lack of fear is very important in a relationship which helps to bridge the gap between a couple and that comes from trusting the other person...”
—Vinay Prakash Goel
The Goels at Stonehenge,
UK—Asmita, Niharika,
Pranjal and Vinay (L-R)Post completing her fashion designing course in Delhi, she worked with an export house but, “As my family were seriously on the lookout for marriage proposals, reality struck me that my life was going to change soon. It was then that I had started preparing myself mentally for marriage. Life after marriage was neither very difficult, nor very easy. It had its own set of challenges as I had to move to a completely new set-up in my life, but Vinay supported me a lot during that phase.”
It was a conscious decision on Asmita’s part to be a homemaker, despite her ‘triggers’ then, when she wished to do a little bit more in her life. However, “Seeing Vinay’s passion towards his career, I thought that it would be good if I support him in all possible ways...”
“My first love is “design thinking” and I must thank Vinay that he supported me in this. More than anything else, I derive a sense of satisfaction and joy when I spend time on these things. Initially, it was just about our small house in ‘Nirvana Country’, Gurugram and worked on creating multiple layouts for that site. I have also had the opportunity to design the layout and interiors of our farmhouse along with our construction/landscape partners and have personally come a long way, learning more in this field...”
On the tribulations that dog most homemakers, Asmita is honest enough to acknowledge that the role of a homemaker continues to be undervalued in today’s age and times. Her thoughts that homemakers should actually be kept above all other professions is quite striking as she connects a family’s financial well-being to that of the efficiency of a homemaker. “They make the most important and priceless investment by investing their time in supporting their husband, in upbringing of their children and taking care of the entire family. Their contributions cannot be compared to anything else and stands invaluable,” she said.
“Although things have changed over the years but in certain sections of our society, there is a belief that women are meant to be only homemakers and therefore, there is nothing special about being homemaker... When we have such thoughts in our society, we are ignoring the fact that a woman makes a choice to focus on home instead of building her own career to ensure that her husband is able to focus on his career, she makes a choice to ensure that her children have her at home to take care of their smallest of needs, she makes a choice to sacrifice her own priorities for the priorities of her family,”she adds.
In her desire to make a positive impact on society, Asmita has visited villages and slums with poor infrastructure, unhygienic living conditions to gather information and work towards their betterment with NGOs and find some social solutions.
In sync with the past and the future, Vinay
and Asmita GoelHer tryst with social service began as a teenager when she felt strongly for lesser-privileged children who lacked opportunities to educate themselves, for ailing patients who could ill afford medical facilities and for women who lacked basic sanitation facilities. “...That feeling continued with me for a very long time and it was post my marriage that I started associating myself with small NGOs at infrequent intervals...”
But, three years back a chance meeting with the founders of the NGO, Bagiya nurtured her latent desire to pick up on her ‘social giving’ track. “It was truly inspiring to note the kind of work that they were doing for the welfare of the society. Since then, my association with the Bagiya foundation and a few others have taken on a concrete shape and I have been spending a lot of quality time on multiple initiatives. I am personally going through a phase where I believe that since God has given us so much, it is our responsibility to help those who find it difficult to fulfil their basis needs.”
Asmita’s ideology on women empowerment is “Encourage women to be self-reliant, inculcate a positive self-esteem, have confidence to face any situations and become economically independent. Stay strong, stand up and have a voice to live with dignity.”
Asmita and Vinay are parents of young Pranjal and Neeharika. Pranjal is a budding Engineer studying at the University of British Columbia (UBC) Canada. “...And gets quite fascinated with anything related to new technologies. His dream is to build racing cars for Formula One championships. By nature he is very loving and caring,” said mum Asmita. Neeharika, a 9th grader is more inclined towards extracurricular activities such as dancing and singing.
“By nature, she is very emotional like Vinay and every now and then she comes up with bizarre pranks.”
Vinay Prakash Goel: While Pranjal is away at college abroad, the three of us make it a point to go for a walk after dinner and most importantly, without our smartphones. During that time, we talk about how we spent our current day, and the things lined up for the next day for all of us.
Asmita: Neeharika and I spend a lot of time together whenever we get a chance after her school. She has started to involve herself in cooking some of things she loves eating and has become a very good cake baker.
Vinay Prakash Goel: The attachment shown by Neeharika and Pranjal is very dear to both of us. Pranjal carries his ‘Never say die’ attitude with him. He gets upset with his failures but recovers very fast and always focuses on improving himself in everything that he does, be it sports or studies, etc.
Neeharika is very young but has the maturity to understand the problems in society. Her concern for social problems is very visible and she is very active with NGOs at such a young age. She frequently visits Bagiya and Pure Hearts foundation and contributes to various initiatives such as tree plantation and ‘no-plastic’ drive, music classes, handicrafts making, etc.
Asmita: Today, children have access to information online which was not available during our childhood. We were used to our grandfather and grandmother telling us stories till late in the night. These days, children spend more time on smartphones than with their families. Therefore it becomes even more important for parents to spend time with their children. Time spent with children helps to share in each other’s feelings, develops a strong sense of trust between children and their parents and this is the most important value.
“He has integrated his office and us akin to a joint family. His statement of bringing a smile to his 20,000 family members in office by sacrificing a few at home makes me proud”
—Asmita Goel
Vinay Prakash Goel: I wish for good health and success for my family.
Asmita: I wish to see my daughter Neeharika and son Pranjal to remain good human beings throughout their lives and to carry our family values wherever they go.
Vinay Prakash Goel: The only way to do great work is to love what you do.
Asmita: Don’t worry, be happy.
By Sangeeta Ghosh Dastidar
Mining is one of the most capital-intensive and intricate businesses in the world, and it is one which the $11 billion Adani Group excels at. It takes a certain calibre of leader to successfully run a mining industry, and Vinay Prakash Goel is just the right man to take charge. Corporate Citizen chats with the dynamic CEO, Mining and Trading, of Adani Enterprises Ltd. who exudes a quiet charm and confidence as he speaks passionately about his journey from humble beginnings to reaching the top of one of India’s most valued companies
Vinay: I am a mechanical engineer, from IET Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh. I got campus-selected by Aditya Birla Group. I worked there for eight years; four years with a company called Indo Gulf Fertilisers which is based in Jagdishpur, Sultanpur. From there I got transferred to Birla Copper in Dahej, Gujarat, which is their sister concern.
So I started with Mechanical Maintenance, then I went to Purchase, then Port Commercial. So I worked for eight years before moving to Adani Group in 2001. This was the first change in my career. At that time, I joined as a senior manager with DGM rank. At that time, Adani Group wasn’t as huge as it is now. Today, it ranks in the top-10 groups. With the company growing so fast, I got the opportunity to grow with the company. I have been with Adani for 17 years now.
got more opportunities in Adani Group than I would have, had I been job hopping. I think employees should not switch a job due to remuneration or appraisals. However, if they are not content with their work, then they should consider moving. If job satisfaction is not there, it is definitely a reason to move from one company to another. Long-term commitment gives you an opportunity to perform your best, and gives others time to notice. I think I am the living example of this. So in my view, unless you have any issues with job satisfaction, you should not switch.
In Adani Group, I am heading the Coal Trading and Mining group, and I find that the culture factor is the most important. If you are working in India, you have to really understand the way Indian culture is. Similarly, in other countries, we have to get localised to work better there. Whether it is an Indian company working outside of India, or an MNC working in India, a clear understanding of culture is important.
I don’t think it is to be of any concern for any Indian employees whether they work with an Indian company or a foreign company. Nowadays most of them are MNCs, and Indians are very adaptable that way.
Aerial view of an Adani Coal TerminalI have been the CEO for almost nine years now. There have been many decisions that are worth mentioning.
One of the things that I believe in is that your manpower and resources are always more important than you are. So you have to be very keen while recruiting. When I go on recruitments, I try to see whether the person is smarter than me or not, so that we have a team that actually has the meta energy required for this job.
Secondly, for the past eight years, I have been working on my mistakes. At each year end, we receive a document that states what mistakes we have made in the past year, what could have been better, and what can we do to ensure that these mistakes don’t happen in the future. We take ownership of our mistakes, and then chalk out a plan to ensure that they don’t happen again. This is one of the reasons why we have seen a lot of transformation and turnaround here.
Another thing that we have introduced is the Townhall meeting. There we connect the dots within the organisation, and ensure that even the junior-most person is heard. We ensure that the communication goes to them also in a proper manner. Because of this, our team is achieving better and better results. And because of this we are able to achieve results with a small team also.
“I got more opportunities in Adani Group than I would have, had I been job hopping. I think employees should not switch a job due to remuneration or appraisals. Long-term commitment gives you an opportunity to perform your best, and gives others time to notice. I think I am the living example of this”
We’re talking about the coal mining industry, where the environmental concern is definitely more. Let’s get one thing out of the way—Do we need coal mining or not? The answer is yes, because today 67% of power comes from coal. From focusing on the renewable energy resources like solar and wind, you are not going to get more than 50% of the power. Not even in the coming 15-20 years. So with these things, coal mines are going to be there at least in our generation and the next generation. What we need to do is think as a responsible miner, and work on how much impact mining will have on the environment. To ensure that if we dig out one tree, we should plant 13-14 trees to maintain the ecological balance.
The second thing is to ensure that CSR activities are there, so that the communities where we operate in are not affected negatively and only positivity. We provide good education and health care to the community so that they get benefit from our initiatives. So if we can take care of all the ill effects of mining, I don’t think we will face any challenges.
Whatever has happened was certainly a bad effect of mining in the past 50-60 years, but we are working on it now, and our results are there.
There is some truth to that. The reason why Indian universities are not doing at par with the foreign universities is because of the lack of connect with the corporate world. Today, the requirement we have and the product we are getting from the universities are not matching. Neither we are telling them what we need, nor are they approaching us to clarify our requirements. We still have a dated curriculum which is almost 15 years behind. So I think the time has come that we can collaborate to create an advanced curriculum. I think Indian education needs to change to keep with the times. Inviting industry leaders to speak at institutes is a good step. When I get opportunities to come and speak at institutes, I use it to position the industry to connect with the students. It’s a good initiative.
I am not sure about the exact numbers. But I think that the ratio is skewed towards men. Only around 12-14% of employees would be women. I think this is due to the old thinking that a man is stronger than a woman. So because of the gender bias, mining was considered a difficult and unsuitable job for women which I believe is a myth. If you see the ratio in other countries like South Africa and Australia, the ratio is more like 50:50 if not even more. They operate heavy equipment also. I think we should come out and discuss openly about the female participation in mining industry. If we ignore half the population of our country, how can we achieve progress or growth?
If you see the ratio of men to women in the mining profession in other countries like South Africa and Australia, it is more like 50:50 if not even more. If we ignore half the population of our country, how can we achieve progress or growth?
Earlier, I used to be in an authoritative style, I used to be a pacesetter. I set the goals myself and then asked my resources to follow it. Recently, it has changed from authoritative to a participative one. Now I let people work with me to decide the target we have to set, and let them take the ownership. It has also reduced the stress I had because of the responsibility. If you want to set the budget and targets, you want it to flow from bottom to top. The strategy and broader numbers can be worked out by the top management, but the rest of the input should come from bottom to the top. Because of this, we find ownership coming at all levels. It has helped us to grow faster than our competitors.
A work life balance is something I have been preaching to people (laughs). I want them to have a Sunday. I want them to spend time with their family. It’s actually in your mind. What I believe is if you are enjoying what you do, if you have satisfaction in the kind of work you have been doing, there is a work-life balance.
When you are at work for 8-10 hours, be dedicated to the work. It’s the same with family. People in my generation didn’t have this awareness, but I am sure that people of current generation will have it better.
I visited ISM Dhanbad a couple of months ago, it is a mining institute. But what I saw was that people took mining as an engineering choice because they couldn’t get mechanical or electrical.
I too went from mechanical to mining in due course in my profession. Now what I see is the perception that mining is a blue-collar job, while IT or banking is thought of as a white-collar job. It’s all because of improper marketing of our industry. Today, we don’t have to go to the site to blast coal. We can sit in air-conditioned office while operating a controlled mining process. We have drones for surveying the mines. The technologies have changed the face of mining. But this isn’t getting highlighted to everyone. Work in mining is more rewarding than other sectors.
This sector needs young people with a good grasp of technology to work with cutting-edge mining equipment. This part is the most rewarding too. The incentives are huge.
I have been in this industry for 17 years. Before that I was in the coal trading business. Adani Group has a lot of data regarding this. From that information, I can tell you for sure that mining is going to be there for next 50 years. Plus, the jobs have been evolving too. Now you don’t just have a mining engineer, you have an environmentalist. You have people working on drones and robotics. The complete compliance with DGMS is done with the help of drones now.
In another two-three years I expect there to be more visibility about our work.
The perception was that mining is a blue-collar job, while IT or banking is thought of as a white-collar job. Today, we don’t have to go to the site to blast coal. We can sit in air-conditioned office while operating a controlled mining process. We have drones for surveying the mines.
We want to be seen as one of the most admired companies in India, and contribute much more to the GDP than now. We don’t want to be seen as a company with billions in profit. We want to be seen as a good employer with active community engagement. We should be known for our environment protection initiatives as well. So the target we have set for ourselves is to focus more on the soft aspects than the hard aspects of the business.
Professionally, I will be with the group till I enjoy my work here. Personally, I want to pay my debts to the society.
By Neeraj Varty
