By Rahul Kishore
I’ve known Deepti Dang, Chief Marketing Officer for Printers at HP for over 10 years. I’ve always found her feisty, funny, fiery and famous. I count her as one of my good friends. When I first got into the advertising industry, she was among the first ones to put her hand up to help me find my feet. Last year, when I launched my own company she called and asked if she could be of any help. I asked for her help and she was good to her word. The thing I like about her is that though she will help, she always keep the interest of her employers first. A rare quality. As she straddles her job in India, and her worldwide project in the US simultaneously, she somehow managed to find time to meet me for half an hour. I began by asking her…
What’s your biggest strength?
Springing back to life every morning. Edginess, madness, fun excites me. I thrive on madness. Life is challenging, like a rollercoaster and that gives me a high. Something like having five Tequila shots. Twenty men challenge everything I say… I thrive on it.
What’s your biggest weakness then?
Emotion. Traffic bugs me, people with BO in the lift, people talking negatively about people who are not wealthy enough, people being derogatory towards family members.
Favourite CEO?
Shripad Nadkarni from Coke India, I enjoyed working with him. Learnt a lot. He always called a spade a spade, had the guts to take on something non-conventional and find a way to make it succeed. I try to duplicate that as well.
Hardwork or luck?
No luck. At all. Pure hardwork. I have learnt from my bosses two critical things: What to do and what not to do. The latter is more important, I learnt that very fast.
How would you like to live your life all over again?
You know, in my teens the three things I wanted to be, was a pilot, Kiran Bedi, and Indira Gandhi. IG was sheer power and I was mesmerised by the way she conducted herself. I would want to go back and be any one of those three.
If a movie were to be made about your life who would you like to play you?
Deepti thinks for a while, runs her fingers through her mane, and says: Sushmita Sen… I love the fact that she did what she wanted to do in her real life not her reel life. I relate to her on a personal level. She would definitely be me.
On a scale of 1-10, how weird are you?
9.9, she says with a yelp of laughter. The 0.1 is missing because I’m scared of my parents! I’m absolutely weird. My team consists of weird people too who are a little off-centre. We gel together well and create magic.
Four words that describe you?
Fun, happy, hyper, emotional.
What did you not get to include in your CV?
On a serious note, an IIM Ahmedabad degree. Having spent 12 years in the corporate world, everyone seems to look for one. On a funny note, madness quotient – MQ. I wish there was a section on your CV which asked what is your madness quotient? I routinely ask this question when I interview someone.
What are your superpowers?
Can sell anything to anyone. I remember many years ago, I was at a party and was asked by a renowned CEO to sell him a fire extinguisher. I did. In all of three minutes. He offered me a job. I accepted.
How often do you destress?
I hit Levo spa pretty often to cool down. My main de-stresser, however, my niece has moved to San Francisco so I will have to find a way to meet her now.
Dream job?
I’d love to own cafes. Many of them. All over India. You can be a partner, she says with a smile.
If Bill Gates gave you 10 million US Â dollars to change something what would it be?
Sad as it may sound, Men and women today are not treated as equals. Men have to learn to accept that women are in no way any less than any of them. I would focus my energies and this money to empower women and give them confidence that they can go out and achieve anything in the world.
Rate RK as an interviewer?
I was going to say 9, but your generosity and the way you have guided me on a couple of occasions in the rapidfire, giving me the right advice on how to position myself, I would now give you a 9.9
Rahul Kishore is an entrepreneur-turned-media professional-turned-media entrepreneur. And he’s pretty professional. If he’s not posting messages on Facebook, he’s messaging posts on Facebook. He plays badminton in the morning, gyms and swims and loves sinful shakes twice a day. Once married, always shy, is father of two and a husband of one. Lives in Delhi. Is Managing Director, Taurus Infomedia