New Delhi: As her 7 year old daughter Aadya is raring to do, Punita Sharma Arora, Co-Founder, Translumina Therapeutics, did not as such want to be a pilot to fly planes but, passion to scale heights always drove her.
That she chose engineering as her career option over 20 years ago when it was almost a male bastion, speaks a volume about strength of her character. And left to her devices, she graduated to be an entrepreneur in her own right. Starting from Boston Scientific, American medical device multinational major, she went on to become Co Founder of a company Translumina Therapeutics, specializing in manufacture of cardiac devices including a global grade stent, with more than 150% growth since its start in 2004.
She of course had to battle societal stereotype that women face Vis- a- Vis men even today but men around her life more than compensated. There was a time when she would be the only girl in the sales team and undertake the difficult task of going to smaller cities for demonstration of the endoscopes to doctors in Nursing homes but that did not deter her from charting her course. Given the egalitarian ecosystem in her parental and in laws home, Mrs Arora easily steered clear of prevalent societal stereotype.
On the occasion of International Women’s Day (March 8), talking to Medicare News, Mrs Arora, said, ‘I, of course, had my share of glass ceiling but that was in the field. I am fortunate enough to get an amazing set of men in my life, my father, two brothers and husband, who never grudged me my sky. They extended all succour to me in chasing my dreams. My business partner Gurmit Singh, MD, Translumina Therapeutics, is no different. But now time has changed a lot. In my company, women constitute 40 % of employees’
She chose the occasion to express her credo, saying ‘I want my company to globally excel in the manufacture of medical devices propped with sound clinical trials.’ She is not the one to be consigned to ‘also ran’ variety and is forever fired to stand out.
But the icing on the cake is: In her journey of 20 years of entrepreneurship, she has quietly blended entrepreneurship with home making. How does she reconcile her huge responsibility of being an entrepreneur to family rearing? In answer to this question by MN, she said, ‘Women are blessed with unique ability of multitasking. Home making for me is as sacrosanct as my enterprise’.
Mrs Arora is married for the last 15 years with Mr. Deepak Arora who is Business Unit Head, Endocrinology for Eli Lilly; together they have a son Dhruv who is 14 year old and Daughter Aadya who is 7 year old. She is a doting mother. Talking of her children, she says, ‘my son wants to make his mark in football and is trying his best to be included in under- 19 national team. Aadya wants to be a pilot. Aadya commands my equal affection. I will let her take wings.’
Mrs Arora started her career at an age of 19 years after doing her engineering in endoscopy business. She has a keen desire and aim to manufacture the complete range of medical products for cardiac disorders by combining the best technology with highest manufacturing standards with an affordable cost. She strongly believes in innovations with quality at affordable price. She holds the knowledge in Electrical Engineering with specialization in Medical Engineering, Masters’ from IMT, Ghaziabad. She was with Boston Scientific from 1997-2004 as a leader in the field of non-surgical treatment of various diseases and handled the cardiac business for a part of North India.
