An alumna of Anna University, Chennai and the top-ranked IIM-Ahmedabad, last year K. Rajeshwari chucked up a remunerative and promising corporate career to realise her passion for teaching and continuous learning. Currently Rajeshwari is professor and head of the department of marketing, retail and international business management at the Chennai Business School (estb. 2006), and is simultaneously preparing her doctoral thesis at IIT-Madras.
Newspeg. On March 16, Rajeshwari launched My Life My Choice (MacMillan, 2011), an inspirational book authored by her, featuring ten individuals who (like her) switched from long and successful first careers into entirely new vocations. According to Rajeshwari, the book is an outcome of the deep self-evaluation and introspection she undertook while choosing her new profession.
History. A consistent topper throughout her student life, Rajeshwari began her career with Seagrams India in 1994 and over the next 15 years rose to top marketing positions with Hindustan Unilever Ltd (1996-2002); CavinKare Pvt. Ltd (2003-2006) and Lipon Paints India (2006-2007) before being appointed vice president (marketing) of Novatium Solutions Pvt. Ltd (2007-2009).
Direct talk. “After having substantially achieved my professional goals, I didn’t want to miss out on being a mother or neglect my aged parents. I realised there were many people confronted with similar dilemmas. This prompted some research and inspired My Life My Choice which in turn induced me to take to teaching in which I had always been latently interested. Now I lead a fulfilling and satisfying life enjoying the intellectual stimulation my new profession offers,” says Rajeshwari who is also quite content with the smaller remuneration her new vocation offers.
Future plans. Now in the “best phase” of her life, Rajeshwari is fully committed to developing her teaching and classroom management skills. “I am also thinking of writing another book on self-development which will offer self-study and personal advice on dealing with common problems through real-life examples of successful professionals,” she says.
Hemalatha Raghupathi (Chennai)