Over 8,000 girls have so far benefited by the Lila Poonawalla Foundation, a trust formed by power couple Lila and Firoz Poonawalla that offers scholarships to deserving girls from disadvantaged backgrounds to pursue higher education. Successful professionals and entrepreneurs respectively, she blazing the trail for women engineers, moving up to MD and CEO at Alfa Laval and Tetra Pak, and honoured with a Padma Shri; he, a successful professional, entrepreneur and award-winning horticulturist, what underpins their parallel successes and successful marriage is their selfless goal to empower others and each other...
There are power couples, couples who are powerful individuals, and then there are the Poonawallas, a couple who staunchly believe that true power lies in the empowerment of others. As if their own individual achievements weren't formidable enough, the duo have gone on to build a world-class educational trust, the Lila Poonawalla Foundation that is focused on supporting deserving and academically outstanding girls from underprivileged backgrounds through scholarships to pursue higher, professional education. The scholarships are given to those in the Pune district, Amravati and Wardha. Over the last 20 years, the Foundation has granted scholarships to over 8,000 girls. Initially focused on post-graduation, the Foundation has recently expanded its base to include bright school girls as well.
At the centre of this diverse and hectic activity are two people—Lila and Firoz— a couple who are partners and compatriots in life, work and vision. A couple who have overcome societal opposition, cultural differences and an assortment of stresses to emerge stronger with each passing decade. What makes their story stand out is that in a world that loves to merely talk empowerment, the Poonawallas have walked the talk in deed.
While Padma Shri awardee Lila blazed the trail for Indian women engineers in her rise (and rise) in the corporate world, going on to become one of the first woman CEOs in India, both at Alfa Laval and Tetra Pak, right up to her retirement in 2001, she wasn’t content with what was arguably a big enough bouquet of achievements. With her retirement money, she started the Lila Poonawalla Foundation with the unstinting support of Firoz.
On his part, his achievements are no less: he has been a corporate professional, entrepreneur and outstanding agriculturist with his very own export-oriented horticultural unit. For this, he has been awarded the Indira Gandhi Priyadarshini Award for outstanding services and achievement in Agriculture, Pune’s Pride Award for Excellence in the corporate world and Rashtriya Sanman Award, amongst other decorations.
So how do such outstanding, dynamic and driven individuals pull on as a marital unit? Beautifully and gracefully, and largely sans the trope of one-upmanship, envy and score keeping—would be the answer, if you cared to watch, or at least listen. A win-win blend of a modern outlook and old-fashioned romance.
What’s more, they have grown together in every way: from the time Firoz spotted the young school girl Lila riding a bicycle to Alka Talkies and fell head over heels in love with her prettiness— to staunchly weathering the storm of societal disapproval over a Hindu-Muslim matrimonial match—to Lila’s rise as Alfa Laval’s MD to his furniture factory and horticulture business, and subsequently, the Lila Poonawalla Foundation, which has them playing ‘mom’ and ‘dad’ to every single girl who passes through their corridors.
It sure has been a charmed life, and a hectic, fulfilling one at that.
This is their story and this is how they tell it.
Firoz Poonawalla: Well, the Lila of yesteryear was a far cry from the person she is today. In fact, she was always crying (smiles). She had joined as my apprentice in Ruston & Hornsby where I was Deputy Chief Inspector. Love blossomed. But she was very shy and very worried as to how the marriage would be accepted. In fact, whenever I broached the subject of marriage she would start crying, and I would get the impression that she wasn’t interested. It was not like that. She was sure that the marriage would not be accepted by her Sindhi family. I, on the other hand, was confident that the marriage would take place and that we would live separately and have our own lives. Eventually, we did get married in court. Even after that, she was afraid of telling her family. She told me to tell her mother. When I did, her mother threw all her clothes together in a potla and handed the same over to me, urging me to leave before her sons came home. But the clothes came in handy, we had left for a regular day at work and instead gotten married—so she did not have her belongings with her (laughs). Soon after, I went up to her brother Mohan and told him that I was no longer merely his friend, but also his brother-in-law. (He may well have been aware of our relationship, but he pretended not to know.)
In reply, he said not a word and instead, picked up a knife and started playing with it. I was not scared; I knew he would not harm me. Eventually he spoke; he told me, “You are now father, mother and everything else to Lila. I wish you all the best, but we have nothing to do with you people henceforth.” Through all of this, what I am trying to impress upon is that she was a shy and frightened girl, whose experiences helped her grow into her present personality. She had to leave the job at Ruston & Hornsby as the rules did not permit husband and wife to be working together. Since I was the one drawing a better salary, it made financial sense to sacrifice hers.
Soon she joined Vulcan Laval that went on to become Alfa Laval.
There, she rose quickly through the ranks thanks to her intelligence and efficiency. But then again, when she was offered the position of MD, she was nervous and reluctant to take it up. Her argument was that there were many more people senior to her; how could she take up the position? Once again, it took me much pampering and convincing her to take up the offer; it was something great that God had given her, and if she gave up this opportunity, it would never return. Finally, she did leave for the breakfast meeting at the Taj Hotel, Mumbai, where she was to confirm her approval.
“The Lila of yesteryear was a far cry from the person she is today. In fact, she was always crying (smiles). She was very shy and very worried as to how the marriage would be accepted. In fact, whenever I broached the subject of marriage she would start crying. She was sure that the marriage would not be accepted by her Sindhi family”
—Firoz Poonawalla
Lila: His independence and his confidence. If you asked him for help, and he didn’t have the answer, he would say: I’ll get back to you. He would never push you out. These were wonderful qualities and I suppose, I just fell in love.
Firoz: I loved her from the moment I saw her —a beautiful, young girl riding a bicycle to Alka Talkies. I followed her and became friends with her brothers. From the beginning, the family was very warm and welcoming to me—especially her brother Mohan and his wife who would take us along on dinners and drives. One day, even as Lila and her mother were going to a temple, I decided to accompany them. At the temple, her mother asked the Maharaj as to when and how Lila would get married. She was an old-fashioned, traditional woman, all the while worried about putting together a dowry for Lila.
The Maharaj told her that her future son-in-law was right there, that he would simply take away her daughter and that she would not have to pay any dowry. (laughs). And that is just what happened.
The beautiful Lila Poonawalla Foundation office where love of the Lila girls spills all overLila: For sure, trust is the first and foremost thing that comes to mind. As a corporate professional, I would be travelling for weeks on end; yet he was absolutely confident that I would be OK. Secondly, we have never argued about money. If both of you are earning, and lead a reasonable standard of life, it really isn’t important how your spouse chooses to spend that money, or if he/she decides to give some to his or her family. Keep each other informed, that's about all. Thirdly, it’s crucial to accept his family as your own. If you don’t do that it will never work. It’s also a good thing to let little things slide and not make an issue of everything. “Why did you do this... why did you do that?” Luckily, there have never been too many ‘whys’ in our life.
Firoz: As I mentioned before, the transformation in Lila happened as she grew into her professional role. Her rise was swift and remarkable—from manager to deputy general manager to general manager to vice president. I knew I would not be able to keep up—and I did not wish to get into the comparison game either. So I quit my job and set up a furniture factory.
“We have never argued about money. If both of you are earning, “Given the backdrop of a world where marriages” and lead a reasonable standard of life, it really isn’t important how your spouse chooses to spend that money, or if he/she decides to give some to his or her family. Keep each other informed, that’s about all”
—Lila Poonawalla
Firoz: One had to contend with societal prejudices plenty of times. Whenever she was travelling, and I would be having a meal with my mother-in-law, she would chide me with: Where is your wife? What sort of a man are you that you can’t control her? and so on. Similarly, when Lila had to do business with the Arabs in UAE, I joined her at my own expense, as I knew a male presence by her side would facilitate smooth operations. The Arabs did not do business with women; it was unheard of.
Lila: We also had to face a lot of cultural hardwiring. People just could not wrap their heads around the concept of a female CEO. For instance, there was the time he had accompanied me on a work trip to Germany. A designated car picked us up; when we reached our destination, the driver looked at me very pointedly and said, “Sightseeing” and to Firoz, he said, “Office.”
It took some time and effort to convince him that it was actually the other way around (laughs).
“I have not just talked empowerment, I have been an example of a man" “Firoz, tell us about how you supported her through various roles.” who has encouraged his wife towards greater heights, even having chosen to walk behind her... till today, I open the car door for her. The little things do count”
—Firoz Poonawalla
Firoz: Well, the credit of minimising it and inculcating respect for women goes to my parents. I just don’t understand this terrible mentality of belittling the women in your life, or beating and hammering them. What sort of animals are these! Without women, there would be no world, let’s not forget that!
Every child learns about respect at home. I don't remember a single instance of my father raising his voice at my mother or scolding her. Similarly, my sister was brought up with love and care; dad did not object to her sitting on his chest as a little girl either. I grew up kissing my mother’s feet; it was our tradition. As a young man, I never suffered from a false sense of superiority over women.
Similarly, when it comes to Lila, my wife, I have not just talked empowerment, I have been an example of a man who has encouraged his wife towards greater heights, even having chosen to walk behind her... till today, I open the car door for her. The little things do count, you see. Gradually, society came to accept her—and us the way we are. In fact, someone did suggest to me that I ought to give lectures to men on how to treat their wives (laughs).
Just the other day I was at a school function and seated next to me was the vice-president. When I asked him where his wife was, he replied that she was at home. When I asked about his daughter-in-law, he replied she was at the factory... suddenly it struck me that these people were unlike me; they merely gave lip service to the idea of women’s empowerment. Their women were not to be seen or heard except in very traditional roles. The same goes with the world leaders of various countries.
Firoz: The Foundation was started 23 years ago with 20 girls. Today, more than 8,000 girls call us mom and dad. Those who passed out two decades ago are married with their own children. So we are grandparents many times over too.
Lila: As you know, I came to Pune as part of a refugee family, post-Partition. Mummy had no money to educate us; I would wear hand-me-downs and go to a municipal school. Even when I went to a convent, the fees were a mere Rs.4. Eventually it was through the charity of friends and family that I became an engineer. Since I had studied and grown through others’ help, I thought why not extend similar help to other girls? In fact, at Alfa Laval, I started funding the education of our workers’ girl children. I was questioned bluntly: why not the boys? But I was firm that our focus was on educating the girl child. I would say we roughly funded about 300 girls’ education. Still I wanted to do more. While this wasn’t possible when I was working, as we came close to retirement, I began to earnestly discuss the dream with Firoz. In fact, it was he who convinced the team not to give me a car or a watch or jewellery at my retirement party but some cash with which to start the trust. That's how I started with 100,000 Swiss francs that roughly translates to over Rs.25 lakh, which was a huge sum back then.
“I came to Pune as part of a refugee family, post-Partition." “Lila, you started the foundation with your retirement money.” Mummy had no money to educate us; I would wear hand me downs and go to a municipal school. Eventually it was through the charity of friends and family that I became an engineer. Since I had studied and grown through others’ help, I thought why not extend similar help to other girls?”
—Lila Poonawalla
Smiling faces of the newly-inducted Lila scholar girls posing with their new-found ‘Mom’Firoz: We did think about the name quite a bit. As God willed it, the name Lila was an acronym for ‘Leading Indian Ladies Ahead’. We saw it as a sign—and so it was.
Next came the issue of what the children would call us. Lila was okay with being called by her first name, but I did not think it was appropriate. She was a very senior lady and the girls had to address her with respect. What term was respectful yet informal? Something that assured the girls that we were there for them and that they could talk to us any time? Mom and dad for sure! In fact, this form of address has led to some really funny situations. Like this time I was with a batch of Lila Fellows near Buckingham Palace, London. As it usually happens, the girls were pulling me along, demanding we take photos here and there. A Britisher happened to see this, and asked me if all the girls were my daughters from the same wife or many wives. I replied: one wife. To which his shocked response was: But this is torture. In this country you would be prosecuted (laughs).
Lila: No, not at all. On our own, we went up to 35 girls but then started accepting donations from others. In fact, right up to 2008, our growth trajectory was very slow. Then we started receiving funds from individual donors; we would request family and friends not to give us gifts for birthdays or festivals, but simply some cash in the name of the trust-which would also then give them tax benefits. As things panned out, an American company called Sementek gave us funds through Global Giving, and that’s how we started engineering scholarships. As of today, we give scholarships to engineering degrees and diploma programs, pharmacy, nursing as well as pure sciences. Over the years, we have also extended base to Amravati and Wardha.
Sometime in 2011, I was introduced to a Swedish donor who was interested only in funding school-based programs. I said I would start it if I received a certain amount. He asked me to go ahead and ask for as much as I needed. That's how we started funding about a 100 girls from standard VII to graduation with about half a billion dollars. He was so happy with the outcome that he gave me three more batches and increased the funding to $700 million. In 2020, we will have the first batch of graduates, and every year after that, we will have a batch. I’d also like to add here that till date we have as many as 49 PhD holders amongst our Lila Fellows.
Firoz: From the very beginning! A graduate youngster by herself is not necessarily an empowered girl, capable of handling different situations. However, it is important for a young professional to know how to conduct herself over a business lunch or a meeting in the HR manager’s cabin. We have trainers coming in to teach all this to our girls. Spoken English classes are a must, and all the interviews for the scholarships are conducted in English. With English speaking skills, a girl’s job prospects immediately go up, from Rs.10K to Rs.40K. That’s how large the gap is. Similarly, we also send our girls to outdoor camps conducted by ex-army personnel. The impact on their budding personalities is instantaneous and long-lasting. In fact, a father once told me that his teenage daughter who was shy to even leave the house was now confident enough to go grocery shopping and take vital decisions as to what would be cooked at home. The ability to take decisions is a crucial life skill, and we are keen for girls to possess the same.
Apart from this, we also have self-defence classes conducted by martial arts experts.
The shy and petite Lila gets a supportive life partner in FirozLila: There are so many, to be honest. We don’t just stop at funding the girls, we have to mentor them consistently and counsel their families against the traditional mindset of getting girls married at the first chance they get. Just the other day, for example, I had this young gypsy girl’s mother in my office. The girl had no interest in getting married, but the mother was insistent. Her argument was: the girl was a graduate which was ‘bad’ enough. Who would marry such an educated girl? I replied that getting the girl married was my responsibility; so would her mother kindly let her be? Today the girl is an entrepreneur, successfully managing a microfinance business and generating employment for so many others. Plus, she is all set to marry a doctor!
The second example that comes to mind is that of this child who was pursuing law at the university. Her parents were furious and threatened to kill themselves if she did not marry the boy chosen for her. With great difficulty we managed to pacify them; today the girl is a successful marriage counsellor-cum-lawyer and doing very well. She did get married eventually, to a boy of her choice—a young man who was educated and sensible enough to accept her without a fat dowry or jewellery. In fact, when we attended her wedding, there she stood, proud and simple, sans any jewellery. I immediately took off my bangles and put them on her wrists; after all, a married girl must have some adornment on her.
Firoz: Another instance is of this girl who invited us over to her little hut. The family was so poor that they had no proper furniture; in fact she brought us some empty dalda tins to sit on. We persuaded her family to let her study. Today, that same girl is a senior professor in New York who then managed to bring her family out of poverty. Whenever she is in India she is sure to conduct classes for the Lila Fellows—that’s her way of giving back.
The point we’d like to underline is that once a girl is shown a way out of the vicious cycle of illiteracy, superstition and poverty, she will ensure that the next generation studies as well. That is the lasting power of education.
“A graduate youngster by herself is not necessarily an empowered girl, capable of handling different situations. However, it is important for a young professional to know how to conduct herself over a business lunch or a meeting in the HR manager’s cabin. We have trainers coming in to teach all this to our girls”
—Firoz Poonawalla
Lila: They know they can walk in anytime and talk to us, be it about their prospects or family problems.
Firoz: Meeting the girls and their parents takes up quite some time in a day. The first things most girls want when they visit dad's office is to help themselves to the bowl of chocolates I always keep with me! The bolder ones walk out with my pen—as a lucky charm to write an exam and show their critics that they can achieve something in life—while the still bolder ones want to click selfies with mom and dad! Amidst all the fun and bonhomie, I make it a point to scold them or pull them up if their performance is not up to the mark, or if they are missing a class.
Discipline is everything; they can’t take the scholarships or opportunities for granted. After a good scolding though, wherever required, I make it a point to give them a chocolate (smiles).
Lila: My day begins at 5 am, answering endless mails from my girls (smiles). At about 7 am I go for a walk; 8 am is breakfast and then I am in office. We work up to 7 pm on busy days. There is just so much to do—meetings, proposals, classes, paperwork and more. Once home, we have dinner together, after which it’s back to my computer. I am also on the board of several companies, and this is my time to answer emails and correspondence.
Firoz: My day begins at 6 am with a solid, hour-long prayer for our girls, after which it’s time to exercise, breakfast and start work by 10 am. One ritual that Lila follows is to bring me up my cup of tea upstairs though I tell her not to.
Lila: It’s the little things that demonstrate care. Unlike youngsters these days who want work shared 50-50 and argue over making breakfast and coffee or early morning dabbas, we have never argued over these things. I would make the tea while Firoz would read the papers and tell me all that was happening around the country— this would save us both time! (smiles)
Lila: Whatever you do in life, do it with utmost passion, do it because you want to. This applies to both your career and marriage. It is this quality that will help you soar in your chosen field and keep your relationship alive. If you want something or someone, if they are of value to you, you will find a way to make the situation work. Or else, you’ll merely find an excuse.
Firoz: Life, to me, is all about the joy of giving. Whatever you have, make sure to share it with others. Unfortunately, there are people more educated and privileged than us, who don’t want to share. However much they have, they want more of it—for themselves. I call it the principle of 99, wherein a person who has Rs 99 reckons that if he were to add Rs.1 to it, he would be better off; a person who has Rs.999 that bit more to take the tally up to Rs.1,000; it just does not end. But when you share with others, be it knowledge, experience or opportunity, you multiply your own joy. So many of our country’s problems would be solved if more people thought on these lines. My one regret is that had we started the Foundation earlier, we would have reached out to more girls.
“Whatever you do in life, do it with utmost passion, do it because you want to. This applies to both your career and marriage. It is this quality that will help you soar in your chosen field and keep your relationship alive. If you want something or someone, if they are of value to you, you will find a way to make the situation work. Or else, you’ll merely find an excuse”
—Lila Poonawalla
Lila: Simply put, we are looking at both sustainability and succession. We want to build a large enough corpus so that the future management does not run around for funds; they simply have to manage it. Finally, I am hoping that one of my Lila Fellows will come back to take over the Foundation. Right now they are all young, busy building their lives. But, maybe one of them will decide one fine day to dedicate her life to the fund so that it may continue beyond us.
Firoz: We have had enough offers from high-profile donors to accept a donation and add their names to it; sorry, we are not for it. The Lila Poonawalla Foundation is our brand, we have nurtured it to its present reputation and standing and we do not wish to dilute it with silly stunts like these.
By
Vinita Deshmukh
&
Kalyani Sardesai
