Tech, fairy garden keep Dr Swati Piramal productive during lockdown

Dr Swati Piramal’s work set-up is simple — she just needs her computer, iPad or mobile phone. Of course, it helps that her study overlooks a green space where flora and fauna abound.

“My study overlooks a fairy garden that I put together. Parrots, the yellow-beaked mynah and sparrows, all fly here. My dogs, usually resting at my feet, provide diversion by chasing the crows. Frangipani and bougainvillea are in bloom currently, and tiny sweet limes are on my fruit trees,” she says.

Dr Piramal, vice-chairman of Piramal Industries, is making the most of the additional family time during the lockdown.


Her trick for staying productive? To have a routine. “I like to stick to a schedule with meetings and catching up on work emails,” Dr Piramal says.

Booked out
Apart from her work and philanthropic endeavours, Dr Piramal also makes the time to brush up on history and culture. “Every weekend since the lockdown was announced, we have excellent talks on subjects ranging from history to culture. We invite friends and family to help keep spirits up, with a nostalgia for a kinder, gentler world. We’ve had authors like William Dalrymple, Amin Jaffer, Ira Purokutty and Manu Pillai. This week we are discussing ‘Food that went into making of a nation, from the Mahabharata to the Mughals’,” she adds.

The government has started a gradual easing up of the lockdown measures, and Dr Piramal is hoping she can meet her mother once normalcy returns. “I miss her, but she tells me every day on the phone, “Even the D of depression shouldn’t be in your vocabulary’. I miss going to my office. Meeting people energises me. I miss travel, especially to Boston,” she says.