PUNCHING ABOVE HER WEIGHT

India’s first female bodyguard, Veena Gupta, always grudged her height which prevented her from joining the police force. Today, she stands tall among those who provide executive protection and security services to prestigious clients, finds Shraddha Kamdar

- Shraddha Kamdar

During the initial days when her husband asked her to choose either him or her profession, she told him, “I am ready to leave you, not my profession!” The attitude of India’s first female bodyguard, Veena Gupta, hasn’t changed since then. Gupta, who entered the profession by chance, but stayed on to build herself from scratch, confesses that she had only attitude to power through. Over the years she went on to set up her organisation, Seam Group Services, which offers executive protection, risk management, and security solutions to a list of high profile clients including Sam Zell ET International, Bell Helicopter, Amway, Western Union, Fair Isaac, Quintiles, Eagle, Adobe, and Barclays Bank in Hong Kong, among others. We chat with her about breaking into a male bastion, and paving the way for others in the profession.

What made you take up a career in this field?