‘Business Requires Imagination'

Never challenge Manasi Kirloskar, sole heir apparent to industrialist Vikram Kirloskar. Chances are, she’ll take you up on it and prove her worth many times over. The businesswoman, painter and social entrepreneur tells Anupama Bijur why she is the corporate face to watch out for in 2017.

- Anupama Bijur

It was in grade 8 that Manasi Kirloskar was told by two of her maths teachers that she would fail her boards. Manasi, who up until then had figured in the bottom five in the subject, accepted the gauntlet and signed up with an ace tutor, spent a full year glued to her books and studied till the wee hours—it was a straight A that she earned.

The only child of Geetanjali and Vikram Kirloskar is clearly a doer. To begin with, she has responsibilities of her legacy as the Executive Director of Kirloskar Systems Ltd and Director on the Boards of Kirloskar Technologies Ltd and Toyota Tsusho Insurance Broker India Pvt Ltd. As an entrepreneur, she has taken on and completed mega real estate ventures even while working on an innovation for rural healthcare.

Then there’s a whole other life of art and social work that she’s been nurturing since she was a teenager. The 27-year-old today runs an NGO, Caring with Colours—a Manasi Kirloskar Initiative, which makes art accessible to children from underprivileged backgrounds. A graduate of the prestigious Rhode Island School of Design, USA, she’s also a passionate painter who held her first exhibition at age 13. Add to that, she’s pet parent to three adorable dogs, Gadget, Midget and Doodle. In this conversation with Femina, she takes us inside her exciting yet challenging world.

Were you always aware of the legacy you would one day inherit?