Toils And Triumph Of Becoming Her

Taking charge of finances is extremely important for women in today’s time

- Anagh Pal

Pooja Dutta, 39 Founder and Managing Partner, Astute Law

Place: Mumbai

For Mumbai-based Pooja Dutta, 39, Founder and Managing Partner, Astute Law, life has been about facing a series of challenges and taking them head on.

When she went to Pune to study law 15 years ago from a small town in Assam or decided to go to Washington DC for further studies, people criticised her for not being wise enough. Her seven-year stint in the US helped her to learn a lot, but it was difficult to cut a deal as law firms there are usually not open to hiring foreign lawyers.

Back in India, she realised whom she knew and where she came from made all the difference. Since she did not have top people in the industry referring her, she realised that her degree from a good university and work experience was of no value. Being a woman made things worse.

During an interview at a Delhi-based law firm, they asked her about everything other than work. Then when she started her own law firm, her partners started to question her authority and that is mostly because she was a woman. Later, she was forced to break all ties with them.

“When you decide to be an independent working woman, people around you will always find ways to pull you down. Every time they tried to de-motivate me, I emerged even stronger. I knew that the best revenge is success and the only way to achieve it is through hard work. I knew I had to prove that it is possible to live your dream without a godfather,” she said.

Dutta believes that she could survive such hardship only because she started investing from a very young age and could support herself in the difficult times.