Special Correspondent
Daijiworld Media Network
Jul 13: As the saying goes some are born great, some achieve greatness, and some have greatness thrust upon them. The second part of this Shakespearean quote that ‘some achieve greatness’ is certainly true about Sundeep Bhandal, a self made business woman who has achieved success at a young age. Her recruitment company Anjaneyap started in 2008 with its headquarters in Milpitas, USA, is ranked 1577 with revenue of about $30 million. Her greatness lays not just in her business turnover but in her transformation from a small town girl and homemaker in atraditional family into a CEO her company Anjaneyap, a global management consulting and technology services company. She looked for opportunities and took calculated risks at an opportune time to emerge successful, something which she always aspired for.
Her transformation from a typical homemaker into a powerful businesswoman makes an interesting reading. Sundeep was born and brought up in a small town where most parents educated their daughters so that they can be married into good families. Sundeep also grew up in a similar atmosphere though her family was quite liberal as compared to the general trend. They encouraged her to do things girls from respectable families were not supposed to do. With the family standing by her she was bold enough to dismantle many traditional stereotypes of female roles of their community. She graduated from college and also had a law degree to her credit.
Sundeep was the first girl in her town to drive a car and people often were found staring at her when she began to drive an open jeep, something which girls were not encouraged doing. Her supportive father was her strength and she faced the world bravely with him by her side. It is not just her father but even her grandmother was very forward in her thinking and encouraged her to study. Sundeep recalls with gratitude the pushy role played by her home people in making her a brave heart and contributing to her success.
Despite such liberal upbringing she allowed her father choose her husband when at the age of 23 she was married to America settled Gurlal. In fact she wanted her father to take decision for her with regard to her marraige. After a year she flew to San Francisco to be with her husband and family and here she came face to face with reality in her marital home. Her husband’s family had moved to US when Gurlal was 16 but their thinking and outlook was quite traditional as compared to her own family back in India.
It was a complete shocker for the young bride who expected her husband’s family to be quite in tune with the culture of America. She also felt it was as much a shock for her husband’s family to see her modern outlook and demeanor. It was a big family with 10 members staying in the same house and Sundeep found it quite amusing as well as awkward to fit herself into her new home. Indian girls are brought up in a way where they are taught to adjust to her husband’s home and Sundeep did just that. Recalling those days Sundeep has said adjusting to the new atmosphere was not an easy task.
Though her husband often commented “you are not like other girls”, she could not gauge the actual meaning of it because he never gave even a slight clue that it was a compliment.
Sundeep was an assertive woman and that reflected very much in her personality. She wanted to be something, to achieve something to make her life fruitful so that she gets due respect from others. Finally she did succeed in convincing her husband about her need to come out from her role as a mere homemaker. She says it took quite a long time for her husband to understand what she actually wanted.
Two years after her arrival in US she had her son and from then onwards her marriage took a turn for the better. Her husband also was supportive as he too felt the pinch of looking after the family and felt her working would ease the financial burden. She enrolled as an Assistant payroll manager at an IT consulting company to start with and soon found herself promoted as manager.
However, it was her burning desire to be her own master that led to the setting up of Anjaneyap, an IT staffing recruitment company. She used her own savings and some money from her parent to start the organization. The company provided employees on contract, fulltime, part time and temporary basis. It was just the kind of push or initial thrust she wanted and from there onwards Sundeep took on to see that her company made its presence felt. It took almost a year for her company to find a strong base. Known for meticulous and no-nonsense approach she could build a good reputation for her firm within two years. The popularity of her firm spread by word of mouth as hired employees from other staffing firms began to bring with them more clients.
Now a stage came where Sundeep was not required to run around in search of clients. In a role reversal her clients came searching for started calling them with more work.
Sundeep recalls the constant support she got from her husband Gurlal during the initial days and admits that she could not have achieved what she has done without backing from her husband. In fact she was grateful to him as he even shouldered the entire responsibility of the household work when she was busy with her company.
Even after reaching great heights which she always wanted to achieve, Sundeep is not resting on her laurels. Her nature does not allow her to sit and bask in the past glory. Her assertive personality is her asset which she had made use for the better. It goes to her credit that she handled the initial years of her marriage with utmost adroitness and that speaks volumes of her grit and determination.
Her parents who are living with her now talk about her success in glowing terms whenever they speak to their friends and relatives. Sundeep feels happy for her parents as they were instrumental in shaping her personality and never made her feel inferior because she was a girl. Sundeep Bhandall and her parents are an inspiration to all of us.
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