Inspite of her political lineage and a famous surname, Poorna Patel, daughter of Union Heavy Industries Minister Praful Patel, managed to create her own footing with her marketing role during the Indian Premier League (IPL). But the 25-year-old has now decided to move on and find her calling in a new space.
“Everyone has to move on. In every career, if people get a good opportunity and see themselves growing in another space, they take over. Every job, every portfolio has a certain lifespan. So I decided to move on. I had a few offers from certain sporting bodies overseas, plus I have plans of my own. So I definitely want to pursue that and take it forward,” said Poorna, who refrained from divulging her future plans just yet.
However, cricket will always be her first love. “My interest will always be cricket and I’m always available for any help needed by the Indian cricket board,” she confirmed.
Now when Poorna is ready to take on a new role, when quizzed if she would like to give politics a chance, considering her family background, she said, “I do help my father backhand with campaigns and events that we do in our constituencies but I haven’t thought of mainstream politics.”
“I know the perception is that youngsters should take over politics. But I feel that the previous generation of politicians is still capable enough of handling our political system and I think they are the backbone. There is no hurry for the younger generation to take over now,” she added.
At the same time, the youngest of Praful Patel’s three daughters is not averse to the idea completely, “If I feel that I should be entering mainstream politics, I will. Right now I don’t have much interest to enter it whole-heartedly, but I’m always available to help my father or the party in any way possible,” she specified.
Poorna, who has learnt “never to look down and never to give up” from her father, is clear about her goals in life and hopes that she is able to achieve them one day.
“Everyone wants to make a lot of money but for me it’s more important to be successful in whatever I do. And more than achieving personal success, I would like to see whoever I’m working for, whether a client or a company, achieve their goals through my work. When we were in the BCCI, we were working for Team India, that was our goal. We weren’t working for ourselves. So even now whoever I work for, whoever I get an opportunity to service, I wish to see them successful at some stage. That’ll be my success,” she said.