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| Home | Successful Indian
of the Month |
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| SUCCESSFUL INDIAN OF THE
MONTH |
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Rooma Nanda is currently in
the finance industry, working as a residential mortgage consultant. She has
over 10 years work experience with various corporates, such as, IBM and Yellow
Pages. Rooma has done her MBA from Sydney, and is passionate about learning on
a constant basis. This column is to highlight the achievements of
certain individuals who could be a source of inspiration for others. Email
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 While
searching for our next candidate for this feature, we came across a very
interesting personality who has achieved a great deal of success at such a
young age that would seem absolutely amazing to most of us. Titles like
Associate Director of a research company for managed funds and also Investment
Adviser are quite impressive for a person to achieve in her late twenties
only. We introduce to you - Rashmi Mehrotra - Associate Director of van Eyk
Research -our column guest for this month.
Rashmi joined the company in August 1995 when it was just a boutique
qualitative research house. At present the company is a full service research
group providing managed funds research to most of the major players in the
financial planning industry. Educated in Frankfurt, Germany, till the primary
level and then in a small town in India, Rashmi did her Bachelor of Arts with
Economics and English literature from University of Delhi. She has also
completed the Graduate Diploma in Applied Finance and investment from the
Securities Institute of Australia with distinction. Rashmi has completed CFA
program and is a member of AIMR & the Sydney society of Financial
Analysts. To measure Rashmi's popularity in the industry, all you have to do
is type her name in Google.com and voila.....a list of articles, associations
and activities will pour out Rashmi's name in the information content.
It was indeed a great delight to meet a young intellectual with a lot of
dreams, aspirations and enthusiasm in her persona. Rashmi, very modestly,
thanks her parents for imbibing in her such great values. Apart from carrying
a successful career, Rashmi is also contributing to the society by introducing
'Ayurveda' - traditional Indian medicine, to the Australianculture on a very
large scale by organising seminars and presentations with the assistance of
her brother.
Lets meet Rashmi and find out about her aspirations, dreams and future plans
in her own words.
Q: When did you arrive here in Australia and what made
you come here?
RM:I migrated to Australia in
1993 to expand the proverbial 'horizons.'
Q: How did you manage to achieve so much in such little
time?
RM:I don't know that I have
achieved any more than I should have. Whatever I have, I put down to
recognizing what I enjoyed doing and then pursuing it.
Q: Did you have a plan for your career or was it a play
of destiny?
RM: No ? I didn't really have a plan for my
career. In fact don't' even consider it as a career in the traditional sense
of the word ie I am not planning to climb up the ladder. I see this as an
opportunity as gaining experience and learning some skills which I may use in
whatever I choose to do next. From that perspective it wasn't destiny either.
Q: What have been your aspirations since childhood?
RM: My parents have always been self-employed and
done whatever they wished. So I decided really early on that I didn't want to
work for a salary either. I always wanted to do my own thing, something that
would be fun rather than just work. This would then give the freedom to also
do my bit for other people. So while my current job is
Q: What financial advice would you like to give to your
fellow citizens who are struggling with the local investment policies?
RM: My advice to Indians living in Australia
would be the same as that to local Australians. You have to learn to invest
rather than just save, make money work for you while you still have time on
your side. So start early, save part of your income, invest sensibly in
cash-flow producing assets. You can then use this extra cash-flow to buy
depreciating items such as a car, holidays etc. if you need a helping hand
with the basics of investing, try our retail site (we usually sell to
financial planners) which is at www.vaneyk.com
Q: What are your plans for the future?
RM: I don't have any set goals in life ? only an
idea of which directions I would like to take. Right now I am thoroughly
enjoying myself at my work, married life, social life and the Sydney way of
living which includes lots of dining out, harbour views sailing etc. At some
stage in the next couple of years, I would like to take a biger proportion of
ownership of a venture ? which could be related to the line of work I'm
already in and possibly with the company I currently work for but it could
well be in something completely unrelated.
Q: Tell us about your interest in Ayurveda?
RM: Ayurveda is the ancient Indian health system.
When I first started studying it (still only out of interest) I was amazed how
complete it seemed like. It makes intuitive sense and is the only health
system I know that recognizes that different people react differently to the
same stimuli, be it your surroundings or food or medicines, based on their
body composition. Most people understand that people react differently but
western medicine doesn't explain why ? apart from saying it may be due to
genetics. Ayurveda dates back 5000 years and still relevant today. In fact I
don't think many Indians even realize that Yoga ? which deals with physical
and mental exercise - is only one part of Ayurveda. Ayurveda is preventative
as well as curative. My brother had been involved in wholesale trading in
Indian Ayurvedic herbs. I started working with him to 'retailise' it. We now
have a website that is a source of information about Ayurveda where people can
take a test to work out their body type, send in health-related queries which
is answered by a panel of about 50 Ayurvedic practitioners or if they prefer
book a personal appointment with a qualified Ayurvedic practitioner. We tied
up with some natural therapy and Yoga centres so that we can offer personal
consultations and treatments at convenient locations. We hold information
seminars for anyone interested and are also constantly trying to get coverage
about Ayurveda generally in the media.
Q: Finally, what would you like to convey to the young
fellow countrymen who have chosen Australia as their destination to be
successful and happy.
RM: Australia is well endowed with a great
weather, good infrastructure and a high standard of life. Make the most of it.
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In the Previous Issues:
Anupam
Sharma
Vikrant Kapoor - Zaaffran Restaurant
Rashmi Mehrotra
Dr. Jagnnath Mazumdar
Naville Roach - Fujitsu
Australia
Dr Arapaut Sivaprasad -
WebGenie Systems
Suda Navada
Jeet Bindra - Caltex
Dr. Bhuvan Unhelkar
Safina Uberoi - My Mother India
Anupam Sharma
Bobby Singh
Sheba Nandkeolyar
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