It happened. The much awaited change of guard went through without mishap and the 46th President was inaugurated with as much pomp and glory that could be mustered amidst a crowd where the army, commandos, secret service, swat teams, etc. outweighed the public in attendance. And yet, there was no denying the sighs of relief when a plane flew overhead bound for Florida and Joe Biden and Kamala Harris were sworn in as leaders of the free world.
Now is the most opportune time for me to do some name dropping as it would be of interest to Indians everywhere. The new cabinet boasts of the younger generation of Indian origin in charge of policy making. Most importantly, it is these widgets who will charter the course for the next four years. The below youngsters are all bestowed with the Indian DNA, most of them children of Indian immigrants (NRI’s) not unlike VP Kamala Harris.
Neha Gupta – Associate Counsel at the Office of the White House
Reema Shah – Deputy Associate Counsel at the Office of the White House
Vinay Reddy – Director of Speech Writing
Neera Tandon – Director of the US Office of Budget and Management
Shanthi Kalathil – Coordinator of Human Rights (National Security Council)
Vidur Sharma – Policy Advisor for the White House COVID-19 Testing Response Team
Garima Verma – First Lady Jill Biden’s Digital Director
Tarun Chhabra – Senior Director for Technology and National Security
Sabrina Singh – Deputy Press Secretary to Vice President Kamala Harris
Sonia Agarwal – Senior Advisor for Climate Policy
Vedant Patel – Assistant Press Secretary to President Joe Biden
Aisha Shah – Partnership Manager at the White House Office of Digital Strategy
Sumona Guha – Co-Chair South Asian Foreign Policy
Vanita Gupta – Associate Attorney General
Gautam Raghavan – Deputy Director of the Office of Presidential personnel
Uzra Zeya – Under Secretary for Civilian Security
Sameera Fazili – Deputy Director at the US National Economic Council
Mala Adiga – Policy Director for First Lady Jill Biden
Dr Vivek Murthy – Co-Chair Covid-19 Task Force
And now to turn the page – Indians who are at the helm of major companies that are pivotal factors in the global economy
Shantanu Narayen, CEO, Adobe
Sundar Pichai, CEO, Alphabet, the parent company of Google
Satya Narayana Nadella, CEO, Microsoft
Rajeev Suri, CEO, Nokia
Punit Renjen, CEO, Deloitte
Vasant “Vas” Narasimhan, CEO, Novartis
Ajaypal “Ajay” Singh Banga, CEO, Mastercard
Ivan Manuel Menezes, CEO, Diageo
Niraj S. Shah, CEO, Wayfair
Sanjay Mehrotra, CEO, Micron
George Kurian, CEO, NetApp
Nikesh Arora, CEO, Palo Alto Networks
Dinesh C. Paliwal, CEO, Harman International Industries
The quintessential question is why Indians? Very simply explained (Citation: End Note) as Indians we
“accept change and uncertainty. A country of more than 1 billion people, dozens of languages, uneven infrastructure, uncertainty whether there will be running water that day! This breeds both an acceptance of forces beyond our control and the need to persevere, despite them. It allows innovation and patience with process to coexist in a corporate bureaucracy1.”
“seeing around the corner. Our ability to predict what is shaping the marketplace – a necessary trait in a leader. Always unconsciously, crafting Plan B2.”
“all about metrics. From the odds of gaining admission to nursery, grammar school, then college and statistically weighing chances on everything and anything3.”
“education. Because of the enforced priority on education, Indian immigrants are among the most highly educated in the US with over 75% having a bachelor’s degree or higher4.”
“work as family and the original helicopter parents. We are a product of our upbringing and bring basic values of work life and balance to the table5.”
“authenticity and adaptation. As a race it is ingrained within us to focus on values and character over charisma6.”
If ever there was a time to be immodest, my fellow Indians, it is now! Raise that collar, walk on air, hold that head up a trifle higher, give yourself a pat in the back and celebrate your existence for our footprints will mark the next frontier.
World, we hope this answers the narrative that has been circulating on social media, “Who is in Charge….”
CITATIONS : 1 2 3 4 5 6 Mitra, S Kalita cnn.com/2020/02/02/perspectives/Indian-ceo-perspectives/index.html
