Speaking at the India Today Conclave 2025, Andhra Pradesh IT and Human Resources Development Minister Nara Lokesh said that work-life balance is one thing he needs to learn from his wife, Nandamuri Bramhani.
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00:00Today is Women's Day and I know, I believe, that your wife is a very powerful, strong woman, as is your mother.
00:07In fact, I heard that they were very successful. Your mother set up a very successful business enterprise.
00:13What have you learned from your wife and your mother? On Women's Day, you can tell us.
00:20Are they the real power in the Naidu family? You don't see them much in the public eye,
00:27but they are the ones, I am told, that perhaps are the real driving force in the family.
00:32Well, my wife pays my credit card bills. Really? She does. So, we are second generation entrepreneurs.
00:39So, the other side of Mr. Naidu is, is that he is a successful entrepreneur. He started a dairy company way back in the 90s.
00:46And it's a listed company, has a close to about four and a half thousand crores of market cap.
00:50And now my wife, Bramini, is the executive director of that company and she runs it day to day.
00:55If there's something that I should learn from her, it's work-life balance.
00:58She does it far better than I could have ever imagined. She takes care of, you know, the business.
01:04We have only one son, Devansh. So, she takes up all the responsibility of taking care of him.
01:09And then, of course, she has the other son, which is me. And she's busy calling me in the evening,
01:13lecturing me about my health and I need to take care of things and so on and so forth.
01:17So, I mean, work-life balance, I believe women do a much, much better job than men do.
01:22And I think we have a lot to learn from them in that sense. Saying that, I don't believe that
01:26women's day should be one day. It should be celebrated every day.
01:30And as HRD minister, we are doing a lot of changes in our curriculum. Starting from
01:35household chores. Why should the photos be all women?
01:39So, from this year, it's 50-50. It's going to be men and women doing household chores.
01:44The pictures in our textbook. So, I believe transformation should happen from education.
01:49You know, I love the way you said that 4,500 crores market cap so casually.
01:54That's what makes the southern politicians different. They don't wear their money on their sleeve. Right?
02:00But the truth of the matter is, as you said, this has been quite a journey for you.
02:07Particularly the last few years. Was there ever a moment of doubt, a moment of darkness,
02:13wondering, telling your wife, let's go back and live on the west coast.
02:17Might be much easier to be in San Francisco or go back to the Stanford campus.
02:22What are we doing in the badlands of Rayalaseema and Kakinada and wherever else?
02:27Padayatra couldn't stop me, but when Mr. Naidu was arrested, there was this movement where my wife told me.
02:35She said, is this worth it? You know, as a family, we've had so much of respect.
02:40We've lived at a certain level. Is this worth it? You know, he's behind bars.
02:45Why are we doing all this? What's the point? But that very evening in Hyderabad,
02:5045,000 IT professionals came together to do a gratitude concert for Mr. Naidu.
02:55And this was on a day when there's a cricket match. 45,000 IT professionals came.
03:01And it was not, it was apolitical. We didn't organize it. They did it on their own.
03:06And that made it worth it. And that's when we all felt that we should do this. This is worth it.
03:11And that's why we've committed our life all over again to the service of the citizens of India and Andhra Pradesh.
03:17By the way, Lokesh is a man of many parts. He's also a great cricket fan.
03:22You might have spotted him at the India-Pakistan match in Dubai.
03:26Are you going tomorrow to watch the match and taking me along with you? We can go and watch.
03:31I believe there's a box that the Andhra Pradesh Cricket Association has.
03:35We have the secretary of the APCA also here. So, should we go and watch the match and who's going to win?
03:41I have assembly come Monday. So, I better be here.
03:44Now, I've got a news bulletin 9 p.m. on Monday. But we can watch the match and fly back from Dubai.
03:49But is that, who's going to win? Oh, India, all the way. Really excited. Can't wait to watch it.