For Indira Nooyi, the post of CEO of soft drink giant PepsiCo comes only second in her priority list. She would prefer to be a mother first - everything comes after it.
"(When it comes to my priority list) I am a mother first, then a CEO and then a wife," Nooyi said while participating in a discussion on "Women and Global Leadership" organised at the Yale Club of New York city as part of the ongoing Incredible India @60 celebrations.
Nooyi feels that each woman "tends to be a superhuman being" because "you are carrying the burdens of being a mother, wife and a daughter-in-law - that too an Indian daughter-in-law - besides taking care of her career".
Asked about her priorities in life, Nooyi, a mother of two daughters, was very quick and clear. "The order is mother, CEO and wife," she said on Tuesday.
Nooyi, chosen as the fourth most powerful women in the world by Forbes magazine, admitted that the different roles she continuously plays leaves her a bit confused at times.
"The other day, my 14-year-old daughter, who lives in the same building, sent me an e-mail asking for an hour's appointment with me. The confusion (about the roles she is supposed to play) and the worries over whether I am doing justice, make me tear my head. You want to be a mother, at the same time you have to take care of your career also," she said.
{{/usCountry}}"The other day, my 14-year-old daughter, who lives in the same building, sent me an e-mail asking for an hour's appointment with me. The confusion (about the roles she is supposed to play) and the worries over whether I am doing justice, make me tear my head. You want to be a mother, at the same time you have to take care of your career also," she said.
{{/usCountry}}The CEO of the world's fourth largest food and beverages company, who hails from Tamil Nadu also pointed out that young Indians are virtually global citizens.
"When my daughter went to Chennai, like a good Indian mother I packed her suitcase with lots of Indian dresses. But she called me and said 'mom I looked like a freak here. Everybody is walking around in tube tops and mini skirts'."
"Today's youth in India are truly world class citizens. They speak different languages and watch MTV ...," she said.