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Krishnakoli
Public Policy Director,
Ola
When I look back at what brought me to where I am today, I can attribute my journey to the life-altering experience I had 15 years ago. In March 2008, in the midst of a fast-paced and intense career, with interesting experiences across diverse companies under my belt, I became a parent.
As the years went by and my son grew older, parenthood brought a different perspective. We lived in Gurgaon, which has frequently topped the list of polluted cities in India, and my son started facing respiratory issues amidst all the construction.
"Gurgaon was booming, but the same could not be said of our health! It was a harsh reality check."
Air quality, vehicle & industrial emissions, issues of sustainability, and quality of life became increasingly important for me. My life priorities and career goals got recalibrated, and it became clear to me how I wanted to drive the next few decades of my career.
It was no longer just about pursuing my passion for storytelling and reputation building, and a leadership career in the corporate communications and public affairs space. It transformed into, ‘What is the purpose of my passion?’
Soon, I came to the realisation that I wanted to be a part of sustainable technologies and organisations, and work with people whose world views of driving transformation for a better way of life aligned with mine.
"There is indeed no Planet B, and it was important to me to contribute to leaving the world a better place for my child and our future generations."
As life would have it, just over 2 years ago, the opportunity at Ola came about. During the initial conversations with them, I kept thinking, ‘It seems like this company has the right focus and is on a mission to bring about positive change.’
My final conversation with Bhavish was truly what decided it for me. His plans of driving electric mobility, his approach of challenging the status quo, his vision rooted in Indian-ness yet focusing on the world—I firmly believed that the company would be at the forefront of mobility tech leadership for the world. It also came with the opportunity to move out of an increasingly polluted Gurgaon to a relatively cleaner Bengaluru. So, that made my decision easier. I was eager to give my son a better quality of life, and do it while pursuing my passion with a purpose!
My first day here still stands out in my mind - December 14, 2020 - the day we announced the signing of the MoU with the Tamil Nadu government for setting up the world's largest 2W factory, the Ola Futurefactory, on a 500 acre site about 2 and half hours drive from Bengaluru. In my 2+ years with Ola Electric, I have been a part of many historic milestones—from our decision for our Futurefactory to be an all-women factory, to the groundbreaking puja in February 2021, to starting construction in March, to the first production electric scooter rolling out on Dussehra day, October 15th, and then, finally the first Ola S1 scooter being delivered on December 15th, 2021...
"What an adventure. The journey from a barren land to a world class factory, up and running in less than 9 months, still gives me goosebumps!"
It fills me with hope for the future — a future that is being built by companies, leaders, and every colleague I have the privilege to work with, who dare to dream big as well as inspire others to join in the mission to make a difference. This has been a fantastic experience. What more could one want than to be a part of something bigger than oneself, to be part of a team that is driving transformation towards a better future? This is my passion with purpose, ‘Be the change you want to see,’ towards a cleaner, more sustainable future.
After all, the future is ours to build.”
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