My Life in Full

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The women's living room in my childhood home had a single piece of furniture-a huge rosewood swing with four long chains that were anchored into the ceiling when my grandfather built the house, on a leafy road in Madras, India, in 1939.

 

That swing, with its gentle glide back and forth in the South Indian heat, set the stage for a million stories. My mother, her sisters, and her cousins-wearing simple saris in fuchsia, blue, or yellow-rocked on it in the late afternoon with cups of sweet, milky coffee, their bare feet stretched to the floor to keep it moving. They planned meals, compared their children's grades, and pored over Indian horoscopes to find suitable matches for their daughters or the other young people in their extensive family networks. They discussed politics, food, local gossip, clothes, religion, music, and books. They were loud, talked over one another, and moved the conversation along.

 

From my earliest days, I played on the swing with my older sister, Chandrika, and my younger brother, Nandu. We swayed and sang our school songs: "The Teddy Bears' Picnic," "The Woodpecker Song," "My Grandfather's Clock," or the Beatles, Cliff Richard, or Beach Boys tunes we'd heard on the radio: "Eight Days a Week," "Bachelor Boy," "Barbara Ann." We snoozed; we tussled. We read British children's novels by Enid Blyton, Richmal Crompton, and Frank Richards. We fell onto the shiny red-tiled floor and scrambled back on.

 

Ours was the big, airy house where a dozen cousins would gather for festivals and holidays. The swing was a set piece for elaborate plays we wrote and performed, based on anything that caught our fancy. Parents, grandparents, aunts, and uncles gathered to watch, holding bits of torn newspaper with the words one ticket scrawled on them. Our relatives felt free to critique our shows or to start chatting or simply walk away. My childhood was not a world of

Indra Nooyi

Praise for My Life in Full:

With candor and good humor, Nooyi has written a wonderful book that brings her story to life, from her early years in India, surrounded by love and high expectations, to her determined efforts to succeed in the corporate world, all the while questioning the tradeoffs she had to make. She reveals just how our society continues to sacrifice talent instead of changing how we organize work to maximize everyone s potential to live full and productive lives. A must-read for working women and the men who work with us, love us, and support us.
Hillary Rodham Clinton
 
Gritty, joyous, and visionary, Nooyi tells the story of an everyday person living an extraordinary life, leading beautifully and confidently from the front. A must-read for all.
Ursula M. Burns, former chair and CEO of Xerox, author of Where You Are Is Not Who You Are
 
CEO and care do not usually go together, but for Indra Nooyi, they always have. Rather than offering us a list of policy prescriptions, she shows us what is possible when businesses care about family and families have time to care for one another.
Anne-Marie Slaughter, CEO of New America, author of Unfinished Business
 
We have so much to learn from Nooyi s remarkable story and wisdom on lifting up girls and women in the decades to come. She shares a great road map for anyone who aspires to merge social change with leading a large organization.
Matt Damon, actor, screenwriter, producer
 
Nooyi s honesty, integrity, and humor shine through at every turn. Truly inspiring.
Mindy Kaling, actor, writer, producer, director
 
An extraordinary window into the life, career, and family of a brilliant business strategist. A terrific addition to the story of American business.
Brian Cornell, CEO of Target Corp.
 
An amazing read, filled with lessons, optimism, warmth, and heart, about an