Who is the FLO woman?
She is a leader, she is skilled, and she is knowledgeable.
Why did you pick Sharmila Tagore and Shekhar Gupta for your first FLO event (May 6 at The Oberoi Grand)?
I have observed that the private persona and the public persona (for the media camera) of celebrities is very different. So I thought, why not get a celebrity and a media person to meet our audience?
What is your vision for FLO?
The tag line of FICCI FLO is Power to Empower. We would like to empower women with skills, be it tailoring, jewellery-making or training them to be security guards. We wish to encourage women with small business ideas through Swayam, which is our facilitation platform to connect women/ student entrepreneurs with the right mentors. We also want to focus on health and cancer awareness. We have tied up with doctors who will be giving talks in rural areas, and we are planning an event with personalities who have battled cancer. My personal mantra is: Mind, Body, Soul.
What do you do for your mind, body and soul?
For the mind, I work. For the body, I exercise. And for the soul, I meditate. I have gone through health issues in the past and have come out of them. I have mastered Reiki, I do healing with candles, yoga and meditation. I go to Indira (Anklesaria who runs the Calorie Burn Centre) or jog in the morning or do Zumba. I wake up at 6am and start with prayers. Then I go to the gym, school, come home, take a walk, do a creative class if there is any and then rest. I am happy to be by myself.
Who are your closest friends in the city?
My best friend is Gitanjali Khemka, who recently appeared in t2 for a Abu Jani-Sandeep Khosla shoot. Almost every Saturday, we hang out with my husband’s childhood friends [Chandra Shekhar and Shalini Nopany, Aditya and Nisha Kanoi, Manish and Vandana Kanoi, Sanjay and Puja Goenka, Vivek and Sumedha Saraogi, and Sanjay Prakash].
Tell us more about yourself… how did you open Suryodaya Montessori House and Suryodaya Charitable School?
I am a Calcutta girl — born, brought up and married here. I lost my father at an early age and my uncle brought me up like his own daughter. I was never made to feel otherwise and had every luxury of the world at home. I was brought up in a very protected environment, unexposed to the world.Yet I was taught everything — from driving to sweeping. I was taught to become independent. When I passed out of college from Shri Shikshayatan, I wanted to take up a job but my father was against a business family like ours going into service.
I got married into the Kanoria family [to Sunil Kanoria]. After marriage, my husband started Srei. My father-in-law has always been supportive and so I did a diploma in Montessori training. After my second child was born, I applied for a job and got into Mother’s Care Montessori in Mandeville Gardens. I worked there for five years and dreamt of opening something of my own. That’s how Suryodaya Montessori House came about in Hiland Park. Children from the housing complex go there; it has everything from a swimming pool to garden to hall for the functions.
But that was not enough. I dreamt bigger — of a charitable school, from Lower KG to Class X, for the underprivileged. So every year, I held a carnival in the Montessori and I kept the returns aside to build Suryodaya Charitable School. It became a reality five years ago.
What are some of your other passions?
Art and craft. I paint, make sculptures, and I am a qualified flower judge, trained under Pushpa Bitan. In June, I have a flower show where I’m competing in Barbados. I have learnt quilling so I often teach mothers of our children at the charitable school. Last month, we sold quilling envelopes for Rs 10,000 at an exhibition and we gave them the money.
I listen to almost all Bollywood songs and my favourite movie is Dear Zindagi because it’s about healing. I like to read books by Deepak Chopra. Currently I am reading The 7 Habits of Highly Effective Families by Stephen R. Covey.
Name three dishes at restaurants you love…
Spinach Salad at The Hub, Chhola-Bhatura from Park Street Kwality and the Margherita Pizza — with green chillies for my Marwari taste (laughs) — at La Cucina, Hyatt Regency.
As part of the organising committee of Westin, tell us something about the hotel...
As it is a family project, my role is that of brand ambassador as well as curating the launch, which will be very soon. The retail space in the hotel will showcase some of India’s biggest brands in the fashion and food space. That is all I can reveal now!
Finally, your message to our readers?
We would like to see women come forward and look at FICCI-FLO as a platform to join to support women across India.
Karo Christine Kumar
Picture: Rashbehari Das
