Billionaire Anil Agarwal's daughter Priya faced racism in London school. What her father advised

Priya Agarwal Hebbar is a non-executive Director at Vedanta, a company founder by her father Anil Agarwal.

Priya Agarwal Hebbar, the daughter of Vedanta chairman Anil Agarwal, shared her harrowing experiences of racism and bullying during her early years in London in a candid interview with Mint.

“When I was 7-8 years old, my parents decided to shift to London,” she recalled. “They decided to put me in a weekly boarding school. No one wanted to sit next to me. There were girls who used to look at me and laugh. I was bullied. I was a part of a very, very difficult racist time. I used to cry.”

Despite the emotional toll, Priya found solace in the advice given by her father. “My father told me two things. He said to succeed, I have to find comfort in discomfort. In a new country like that, and if I need to be looked at in a positive light, I have to be 25 per cent better than everybody else,” she shared. His words became a guiding principle for Priya, who eventually formed friendships with some of those who had once ostracised her.

Priya’s journey from a bullied child to a confident leader in a male-dominated industry is a testament to her resilience. “Finding comfort in discomfort is something that I have taken, and I have embedded, and that is what I want to do in a male-dominated industry like mining. I want women to dominate,” she concluded.

The interview, which was shared on Mint’s Instagram, highlighted Priya’s reflections on her childhood and her path to overcoming adversity.

Anil Agarwal, whose family’s net worth was estimated at $2.01 billion by Forbes in 2022, has long been a prominent figure in the business world. Priya Agarwal, a non-executive Director at Vedanta, has a brother - Agnivesh and she is married to Akarsh Hebbar.