Leading by Example

THE MANCHHARAMS

It is a Saturday afternoon, and eight-year-old Lara Manchharam is doodling in a book while getting her hair done for this shoot. It is rare to see a child today distracted not by an ipad, but by a notebook and a pencil, but her parents Shireena Shroff Manchharam and Ashish Manchharam are strict: no ipads, except on Sunday mornings when they need a lie-in. While both parents are successful and busy entrepreneurs—shireena is the founder and managing director of luxury lifestyle brand House of Sheens, and Ashish is the founder and managing director of 8M Real Estate—they are meticulous about their time management and diligently make it a point to spend as much time as possible with their two children, Lara and four-year-old Arian. Says Shireena, “I’m very organised, so I think that helps in managing the kids, keeping my home in order, having time for friends and family, and managing my businesses. I plan every minute of the day! Family time on the weekends is special and both Ashish and I are very protective of our time together with the kids.” Ashish agrees, “You must have a balance between personal life and family—and it is certainly possible. Luckily, I have a very supportive wife who’s helpful in ensuring that I have the balance. But the nature of my job does enable me to balance out work and personal time—which is something I consciously thought about before embarking on my career.” Possibly inspired by her parents’ entrepreneurial spirit, Lara set up an anti-bullying movement called #Bullyfree by Lara on Facebook. The viral video of two boys victimising other children at a local secondary school last year galvanised her to take action in the form of #Bullyfree bracelets to remind children not to torment their peers, and to stand up against bullies. Indeed, the apple doesn’t fall too far from the tree.