It’s easy for us to judge at first sight and have different perceptions when we start off, but the learning we get when things turn out differently is the learning of life, feels Tanveen Kaur
Tanveen Kaur Bedi, a pass-out from Sacred Heart Convent School, Ludhiana, and a Master’s degree holder from BIMM of Pune, now walks the talk in the competitive corporate world. It was not a rosy journey for Tanveen, but her stint with the Corporate Relations Team (CRT) at college gave her the required lift. “Being a part of CRT, I always longed to work for the best company, with the best package, so I kept on filtering them but later realised that most of the companies had done with their placements and very little choice was left for me,” recalls Tanveen on her first lap of the race into her career. But a pep talk from Bala Sir, who encouraged and motivated her, helped her grab the next opportunity with both her hands. She was one of 90 awaiting the final call from Blue Star Limited, and her positive approach saw her through. She got absorbed as a Senior Marketing Executive in Mumbai and was soon transferred to Gurgaon to the Room Air Conditioning (RAD) marketing team.
English and Mathematics were her favourite subjects. Her liking for literature started off with Shakespeare’s Merchant of Venice. She fell in love with the subtlety with which he created his characters. The creativity and magic that he weaved into his characters awakened her interest for the English language. And mathematics gave her an approach with which to quantify things and understand the underlying problem. Thus she tried to relate the basic principles of mathematics to real life.
Tanveen did her schooling from Sacred Heart Convent School, Ludhiana, and graduated with a degree in Commerce from Khalsa College (Punjab University, Chandigarh). Though chartered accountancy as a career choice was making the rounds in her mind, she soon realised that she wanted to be much more than an accountant and wanted to explore the corporate world. Sincere in her studies, Tanveen was also taking part in elocutions and debates both in school and college. She was also among the few girls who took up sports along with studies.
Tanveen with her familyTanveen began her innings with Blue Star Limited as a Senior Marketing Executive and was based with the Corporate Marketing Services (CMS) team in Mumbai for nine months. Her commitment and dedication towards work gave her a lift and she was shifted to Gurgaon to Room Air Conditioning (RAD) Marketing, close to her hometown. She was not looking for perks, or any monetary benefits, as she says, “The most important perk one can ask for is work-life balance, and I am glad that Blue Star encouraged me to create my work-life balance, and most importantly, helped me balance my married and work life.” Things have changed in leaps and bounds for Tanveen. “Professionally, at the beginning of my career, I got to report to the marketing head of Blue Star and now to the marketing head of Room Air Conditioning Division, and also reporting to the Vice President of the company. Working closely with such learned people in the company is itself a perk for a fresher like me,” she says.
Tanveen with friendsBlue Star Limited came up with the sales profile offering a decent package. She was among 90-odd candidates who applied. But she was not sure, as this company was into manufacturing. “I applied for it, thinking of giving it a try, though it was engineering-based. The placement process started with the aptitude test, which I cleared, coming up in the top-four,” says Tanveen of the initial run in the placement process. The second stage was group discussion on the topic ‘Digitising the banking sector’. After clearing the group discussion, 12 students went through the first round of interviews and three were shortlisted for the only post that the company was offering. There was a surprise awaiting the three students, as Blue Star was also looking for the Corporate Marketing Services profile. “It was music to my ears when I heard this; my happiness touched another level because that was what I wanted.” After the candidates were briefed about the profile the company was looking for, a two-day grace period was given to them to prepare for the final test. And it was then that everything fell in place for Tanveen, as she became the chosen one. The seven days of agony were gone and she was selected. “I was the only one placed out of the lot of 90. All my friends from CRT, along with Dimple Ma’am and CROs celebrated my placement, and I thank all of them for always guiding me through the right path.”
“I credit my success to my family. Both my parents and my younger brother have always supported me in all the bold decisions I took in life, ignoring the stereotype orthodox society we live in. My parents always treated me and my brother equally and made me bold and independent, due to which I could initiate climbing the ladder of success,” she says.
“Life is what we make of it; we have a different perception when we start off, but when it turns out to be the polar opposite, the learning out of that experience is something that is unquantifiable and inexplicable”
Tanveen with husband Paul SinghIt was not just her career which Tanveen found in this college, but her life partner too—Inder Paul Singh. “My happiest moment in life was when my husband, Inder Paul Singh entered my life. Inder is my senior from BIMM who is also from my hometown, but I met him in Pune. BIMM turned out to be my lucky charm as it gave me a successful career, a beautiful family and a caring husband.”
Tanveen is of the opinion that ‘When the going gets tough, the tough get going’. “Life is what we make of it; we have a different perception when we start off, but when it turns out to be the polar opposite, the learning out of that experience is something that is unquantifiable and inexplicable. It’s easy for us to judge someone or something at first sight but little do we know that what is in store for us is something larger than life.”
Each person, she believes, has different challenges to face at different points in life. “Mine is to break the stereotype rhetoric that women cannot handle work and family life simultaneously and yet succeed. I seem to be well ahead of my path to achieve the same.”
By Joe Williams
