Priya Agarwal Hebbar, the daughter of Vedanta chairman Anil Agarwal, openly discussed her distressing encounters with racism and bullying during her formative years in London in a recent interview. “When I was 7-8 years old, my parents decided to shift to London. They decided to put me in a weekly boarding school. No one wanted to sit next to me. There were girls who used to look at me and laugh. I was bullied. I was a part of a very, very difficult racist time. I used to cry,” she said during a candid interview with Mint.
Despite the emotional challenges she faced, Priya discovered solace in her father's advice. “My father told me two things. He said to succeed, I have to find comfort in discomfort. In a new country like that, and if I need to be looked at in a positive light, I have to be 25 per cent better than everybody else,” she said. These words served as a guiding light for Priya, leading her to forge friendships with individuals who had previously marginalised her.
Priya's transformation from a victim of bullying to a self-assured leader in a predominantly male-centric field stands as a remarkable testament to her resilience. “Finding comfort in discomfort is something that I have taken, and I have embedded, and that is what I want to do in a male-dominated industry like mining. I want women to dominate,” she affirmed.
Anil Agarwal, a prominent business figure, commands significant attention due to his family's considerable net worth, estimated at $2.01 billion by Forbes in 2022. Alongside his wife and children, including Priya Agarwal, who serves as a non-executive Director at Vedanta, the Agarwal family's influence extends across various sectors. Priya, in addition to her professional role, shares her familial ties with a brother named Agnivesh and is married to Akarsh Hebbar, further enhancing her connections within the business community.
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