Mr. Purab Ashok Chhaya,
IBS Mumbai (’05)

Pidilite Industries Ltd

Country Head for the Modern Trade, Key Accounts.

  His career started as an Executive Trainee in IDBI Bank where he worked for a year and a half. Later, he shifted to Standard Chartered Bank as a Personal Financial Consultant at their Fort Head Office. After his stint with SCB, Purab moved to HDFC Bank as a Preferred Relationship Manager. He worked there for a short period of time, achieved net revenue of Rs 25 Lakhs in his 4 months stay there until Pidilite Industries, his dream break in FMCG and Retailing, happened. He is quite enthusiastic about his work as he explains that banking sector, both in Indian and global context, is expecting a robust growth over the next few years. The prospects are compounded especially with the banking going liberal in 2008, resulting in a mad rush to acquire the market share. He is definite that ‘now’ is a very good time to be in this sector to gain experience for the kill later on.

 While we wonder how a person can accomplish so much in a relatively short period, Purab attributes the whole credit to his mother, Dhruman Chhaya, and says that she has been the great support in building his career. While talking about his sister, Purvi Chhaya, who is studying Graphic Designing and Animation and will complete the same soon, Purab sadly remembers his father Ashok Chhaya who expired in 1992. Purab has taken up responsibilities of the family since then.

Well done Purab!! His value for family comes through when he says that his ideas of perfect life mean SUCCESS but not at the cost of family life. He has never had a problem balancing work and family as his mother has always been his strongest support and biggest critic. He says, “Mine is a dream family that everyone wishes for!” That apart, it is about a lot of traveling and man management. One day, he wishes to be an entrepreneur on his own. Maybe that’s why, Tarak Buch, one of his cousins, is his ideal. Tarak is a self motivated individual who has reached the level of top management in an MNC at the very early age of 41. “My aim is to reach where he is, before he did and being a Country Head at 27, I don’t think I have a long way to go. I just hope things remain as good as they are now.” says Purab.

Despite such passionate approach, Purab has sure faced some high pressure situations at work, hasn’t it? Purab replies, “Everything is simple if you keep patience and a steady head on your shoulders. Logical working with a proper reasoning will enable you to come out of any situation. Never run away from your pressures. Face them and puncture them for the pressure to be released.” Music is his biggest de-stressor. It always releases his tension and brings back normalcy for him. In the same vein, he declares that his biggest lesson in life is never to give up when things go wrong and never to lose an opportunity when it arises. Yes! That is certainly true. We all would gain from your lessons. We also should all try to learn and gain from the suggestions/lessons from this 27 years old. We should also be able to recognize ‘opportunity’ when it comes to us.