Rama Bijapurkar the individual

Rama Bijapurkar is a straight-talking individual. She doesn't believe in beating about the bush. That's the way she deals with her clients, business contacts, friends and family. She thinks fast and can be impatient with those who are unable to keep up with her train of thought that she can verbalise rapidly.

This did find some colleagues from her service days saying sometimes that she's difficult to work with, but once you understand her no-nonsense approach, she's just fine.

Ms Bijapurkar has an innate sense of enthusiasm in whatever she does, and a sense of diligence that finds her attempting, constantly, to put in her best. No short cuts, thank you. She feels she's finding her balance in life, giving time to her consulting, which finds her travelling out of Mumbai fairly often, and giving time to her family. Beyond that, she takes out time for writing her regular column with Business World and participating in fora and seminars she's often invited to speak at.

Family is husband and just-entered-teenage daughter. Husband Ashok Bijapurkar was, till very recently, the chief executive of advertising agency Rediffusion DY&R. He quit to move on to something else, that something yet to be defined. Given his experience and talents, he's sure to step into something exciting soon enough. With the daughter, Ms Bijapurkar has the usual parental concerns -- growing-up relationships, concerns on her child's future, the predictable generation-gap concerns…