Livin' The Life

She is the daughter of leading Indian industrialist Kumar Mangalam Birla and philanthropist Neerja Birla, and scion of the illustrious Birla clan. Twenty-two-year-old ANANYA BIRLA, however, is unwavering in her resolve to build her own legacy. With two start-ups, a mental health awareness initiative and a music single to her name, the youngster is on a mission to announce to the world that she is a lot more than just a billion-dollar girl.

- Sneha Mahale

She refuses to let her famous surname overshadow her individuality. “I have found my space in the world. I have found what I want to do and what I want to achieve. And now I am going all guns,” she says. We are meeting up with the 22-year-old Ananyashree Birla on a breezy February afternoon at the desolate Mukesh Mills in Colaba, Mumbai. Her composed and self-assured demeanour belies her age. But then, she is the daughter of Aditya Birla Group Chairman Kumar Mangalam Birla and philanthropist Neerja Birla, and a scion of one of India’s most illustrious business families. Business acumen and the drive to pursue her dreams are in her DNA.

But Ananya, as she is called, chooses to take the family legacy forward on her own terms. In 2013, at the age of 17, she initiated a micro finance venture named Svatantra to empower women in rural India. Three year later, her second venture—a luxury e-commerce portal called CuroCarte—was launched. Then in November 2016, she stunned all and sundry by emerging as the newest musician on the block with her debut international single, Livin’ The Life. The youngster also collaborates with her mother Neerja to run the initiative Mpower, which aims to break the stigma associated with mental illness.

As she gets comfortable in her vanity van, the serial entrepreneur, musician and active mental health campaigner opens up about her childhood, branching out of the family business, breaking stereotypes and more.

Growing up