Ola’s IPO just concluded. Anyone who knows Bhavish Aggarwal isn’t surprised on how the market has reacted favorably to the IPO. As if, this was bound to happen. Why not! If you talk to him, you would be astounded by his clarity of thought. So, one might wonder from where he got those traits? From where did he get that clarity of thought? Did he learn these from someone or these were always there in him?
~ I and my wife are doctors. We have two sons: Bhavish and Ankush (Ankush's fintech start-up was acquired by Ola after their work became overlapping and now he works in OLA group companies on a varied CXO roles)
~ I committed myself to "Good Parenting" long before my marriage. I started reading about it the day I joined medical college as a student
~ Parenting was my and my wife's fulltime job
~ As parents, we would always discuss new ideas, news, leaders, etc. daily with our kids. Family time is very important for a kid's growth
~ There was no academic pressure on them but yes, whatever they chose they had to prove themselves in it. Speaking the truth, discipline, hard work, excellence and fairness are the yardsticks we followed and promoted at home
~ Bhavish was very inclined towards computers from a tender age. So, it was easy for us to know that he would become an engineer, not a doctor
~ Still, after his 10th standard, I asked Bhavish, "How about becoming a doctor?" With utmost clarity, he replied, “Dad, I am too good to be a doctor!”
~ When he got an AIR of 23 in IITJEE, I told him that it was good that he maintained the family's academic standards with due respect for the relationship, as my AIR in medical was 16
~ Ankush is not very vocal as Bhavish but extremely talented. He got selected in Singapore Airlines Scholarship, only about 20 people were selected from India that year. Singapore Govt paid for everything. He then went on to do his graduation from UIUC in USA
~ After his studies, he immediately returned to India to work here. Nationalist streak runs in the family. We are proud Indians!
~ When Bhavish started Ola in 2010, he didn’t know of Uber (founded in 2009). Meru cabs was popular that time but it wasn’t very user friendly
~ The USP of Ola was the App that Bhavish and his team created from scratch. Anyone could see the movement of the taxi and pay online. The app did the magic. Having a USP is a must to do anything in life
~ My two sons run three Unicorns (Ola, Ola Electric and Krutrim AI, founded by Bhavish). I am extremely proud of their achievements.
