Girl On Top

An artist, an entrepreneur and an agent of social change, ANANYASHREE BIRLA is building an empire for each. SHRUTI THACKER meets the young woman juggling her corporate and creative pursuits, whether starting at 17 or winning big at 22

- Shruti Thacker

BEFORE I HEARD OF ANANYSHREE BIRLA, I had heard about Mpower, a mental health initiative she runs with her mother, Neerja Birla. Her father, Kumar Mangalam Birla, is the chairman of the Aditya Birla Group. In a world where everyone is shouting to get their voices heard, the young Birla branched out of the family business and worked her way up the corporate ladder at an alarming pace. At age 22, she’s already got three start-up companies to her name and, only last month, she launched her debut music single.

When we meet on the third floor of her sprawling family home in Mumbai, I’m not sure what to expect. Ananya, as she likes to be called, has just returned from a press conference to announce the launch of her latest venture, CuroCarte, a website that sells premium products curated from across the world. But by the time this issue hits stands, Ananya would have made her next move: a single with American producer Jim Beanz, who has previously worked with Britney Spears, M.I.A. and Demi Lovato. One thing is clear: she’s not wasting any time. Only last month, Ananya was selected as one of the 20 young turks invited to attend the prestigious Bal des Débutantes, an annual by-invitation-only event in Paris that brings together prominent faces from renowned families from around the world.

How does a 20-something handle all this, I ask her, remembering my days fresh out of university as I juggled a blur of internships. “[I know] this sounds ridiculous, but this is it. You know the feeling you get when you’re doing the right thing,” she says. She must have a flurry of staff surrounding her, asking for decisions to be made, guiding her and fussing about her, I think to myself. But in the four hours we spend together, Ananya keeps the company of only two assistants, who seem more like friends than business associates.