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I used to complain about non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and their inability to give a thrust to projects; not being able to hire the best, poor pay; just the difficulty to survive,” says Pearl Tiwari, president of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) at Ambuja Cements Limited (ACL) and chief executive officer of Ambuja Cement Foundation (ACF). 
Her husband Maj Shashi Tiwari pushed her into the corporate sector to attain that NGO-corporate balance. He said if anyone can do it, it is she. And that is where her journey began in 2000 at ACL.
After her meeting with ACL owner Narotam Sekhsaria, she walked out content and one step closer to leaving the world of NGOs. At that time her passion was child rights to which she had devoted 15 years of her life, 12 of which were in the disability sector. The graduate from Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS), where she also taught briefly, was now spreading her wings. From being director of NGO Meljol, she sought a partnership relationship with Sekhsaria who wanted to start a foundation but lacked the expertise. She geared herself to work at the Foundation for a few years but is now in her 20th. The Foundation, founded in 1993, works with communities living near their plants to ensure a sustainable lifestyle and integrating them into the existing environment. She enjoys the flexibility, innovation and autonomy. As she says, "They had the finance, they had the power to fail.” The challenge was not to fail. "ACL could not have done it on their own; they needed the Foundation to succeed in their plans...
"I talked to experts about soil and water management and then read about it. Seventy percent has been on-the-job learning for me. There is openness to learn from juniors, subordinates, from any knowledgeable person. My job is to create prosperity and build communities where there are ACL plants. We are known for water resource management, bettering the livelihood of farmers by hand-holding them in agriculture from seed to marketing and making it sustainable for their specific needs. We involve ourselves in every aspect from multi to mono cropping, encourage crop rotation so that the earth can support the yield,” she says with pride of her current job.
"The cement industry has its own specific environmental sustainability. If we consume more water than we harvest or sully the environment, it is a non-responsible act,” so the ACF wrote to avoid these traps. ACF acknowledges that environment and social responsibilities become doubly important in India as there is no guaranteed medical or social insurance for the community at large.

 

 

 

 

 

Tiwari clarifies that "sustainability is a three-legged stool, where each support is important. It comprises financial viability with environment performance and social responsibility.” Even if one is not robust, there would be disruption in the life of the indigenous community. ACL has 18 sites in 10 states in the country. In five of these, the Foundation has left a major footprint.
In 2008 Tiwari was chosen to go to the Harvard Business School for an Executive Education program on CSR. "What I realized is that what the western world calls CSR we call sustainability. In India we often develop at the cost of the local community. That can’t be sustainable in the long run,” explains this dedicated worker. On completion of the course, she approached a professor to give guidance on bettering sustainability practices. "This professor advised us to integrate practices in which we had acquired excellence and work with each other. After discussing the working of departments concerned with the environment like water conservation, sustainability, livelihood, etc with them, the Foundation created a synergy. We then became ‘water positive,’ i.e. our ratio of consumption and harvesting was positive. The measurement in place indicates that ACL is harvesting six times more water than it consumes. As per the Dow Jones Sustainability Index, we are globally number four in our sector of cement and construction. We are now confident and are becoming visible. In fact, we are retained by big organizations to implement CSR for them.”

A royal handshake
In 2010, the environmental deliverer was nominated for another management program on sustainability at the Swedish Institute (SI), Stockholm. The Swedish government sought to have greater ties with India leading to an exchange program. Bombay took the lead to establish an alumni association of SI attendees which was very active. "I became the chairperson of this board. From plogging (clean as you move) to symposiums on sustainable development goals to nature trails to save mangroves, a host of activities were initiated.”
As a consequence, Tiwari was a special invitee to New Delhi during the recent visit of the Swedish Royal couple — King Carl XVI Gustaf and Queen Silvia Renate — to promote investments and innovation in India. The alumna sat to the left of the King, as a co-host for 25 invitees to the Swedish Embassy. King Gustaf’s interest lies in social and environmental issues and sustainability, while Queen Silvia Renate has a special interest in child rights and gender equality despite biases.
Tiwari’s high, however, is derived from interacting with community members or with her team in the field. This stance has led to ACF being partner of choice for communities. Always being insistent on compliant and ethical practices also has its flipside, as the time she had to dismiss an employee for taking kickbacks. "It is at times like this that I feel isolated, but you have to stand up for what you believe in,” she adds.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The influencers
Daughter of the late businessman Meherji Mistry and Homai, she shares that "mum was the rock, allowed us to do whatever we wanted, she had complete faith in us.” The "we” referred to herself and her late brother Maj Khushru Mistry, who went down in uniform. She commends Rishi Valley School, Chittoor for instilling simplicity of ideas and living, values, ethics, as the basis of character formation. She is thankful to the St Xavier’s College, Bombay for helping her in acquiring leadership qualities; Jesuit priests Gordon Daniells, Emil D’Cruz and Terence Quadros are specially singled out for always guiding and being accessible.
On the home front, mention honorable was for her maternal uncle (mama) Sam Palia. As her father was often away from home on business, Palia took over paternal duties and guided and chided her. While discussing her future plans with him, she said, "I am confused, I don’t know.” All she was aware of was run-of-the-mill courses like travel and tourism. Mama would have none of it. He had already suggested she join the stream of social science. The dynamic banker procured for her the prospectus of TISS, and hey presto, she liked what she read. And so the journey began. It almost did not, as the last date for the course application was the very next day, though she had thought admission was months away!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The 56-year-old laments that today’s inexperienced graduates want "the easy way out, quick fixes, high earnings, all without being agents of change or seeing that the road to success is essentially experience and knowledge.” Her pointers to newbies are: "Do not give up your passion. Do not lose on the human touch and engage with your team and the community members you work with. Wet your hands and feet and become solid,” she tells all youngsters including her daughter Karishma who works in the UK with Deloitte after completing her MPhil in Economics from Exeter College at Oxford University.
Tiwari has instilled Zoroastrian probity in her daughter and claims to be a proud kusti-wearing Parsi. She extols the contribution and domination the community has enjoyed in various fields. She ends with, "I’m not religious but I’m a firm believer — have seen too many controversies in the community.” This is a good reason for her to keep a low profile in the community altogether.