Sunil Kulwal
Age: 49 Years
Designation: Managing Director & CEO
Company: Aditya Birla Minerals, an ASX listed publicly held company in which majority is owned by Hindalco Industries. Turnover $381 million.
Sons: Ayush (18), Akshat (13).
I have been working with the Aditya Birla Group since the 1980s. When the Perth offer came along in 2008, I was very excited. I used to manage a business in India. In Australia, I was to lead a company — a listed entity with a board and a host of responsibilities. It was one of those special opportunities. I was looking forward to such an opportunity for a long time and I accepted it.
Perth is a fairly global, cosmopolitan city. With a population of 1.65 million, it is small but it is postcard perfect with fantastic weather and very good infrastructure. It has a lot of lovely beaches and golf courses. People here are very friendly and disciplined. Even at midnight, you will find people abiding by traffic rules on the roads. Night life is great with lots of pubs, bars and clubs where people — especially young couples — hang out during the weekends. People here are very outdoorsy and they go for long drives and night outs during weekends. Around 300-400 km away, people go for beaches, bush walking and lots of leisure activities. Recently, Perth was ranked the world’s 4th most liveable city.
Life for an Indian isn’t very difficult. There are lots of Indians, Indian restaurants and a couple of temples. There are Indian associations in Perth. Hare Ram Hare Krishna mission, Swami Narayan — all of them have a presence here. There are Indian stores where you can get Indian stuff including spices.
Settling down was not very difficult. You can do a lot of stuff like looking for a house etc. on the Internet. I did all the ground work for the house on the Internet. I shortlisted five houses, set up appointments and finalised the deal after visiting them. It was very smooth.
What takes time to get used to are some of the Indian comforts that are not present her. For example, in India, you have drivers but here you have to drive yourself. If you don’t know the routes, people take route maps. GPRS is pretty handy. My wife did take time to adjust. In India you get so used to domestic help that it’s a big cultural challenge to do it all yourself.
(This story appears in the 13 August, 2010 issue of Forbes India. To visit our Archives, click here.)
Thanks for expressing your views about the life style in Australia as it would guide those who plan to settle in Australia or wish to join a job there.But, I think you are missing the joy of our early morning walk to GhoomChakkar and Railway station of Nawalgarh . I congratulate you on your brilliant success in your career and feel proud being your childhood friend of Nawalgarh. You have really brought glory to Nawalgarh. Best wishes, Pramod Kumar Sharma, Jaipur, India.
on Mar 27, 2011I respect u bhaiya not as a sister but for your achievements that you got in this precious life.
on Sep 7, 2010Let me thank Mr Sunil Kulwal for giving complete picture of work culture, infrastructure & lifestyle at Australlia especially (Perth). This will definitely help people sitting in Indian continent or across the globe have insider view if at all they have ambition & wish to fly & work there. Managing business successfully in altogether different work environment from that of India speaks about his excellent managerial skills.
on Aug 14, 2010Similar circumstances prevails for any other overseas projects in an advanced or upcoming country. I came across similar experience both in my personal and official front during my two years stay in an overseas project in middle east. The views expressed by Mr Sunil will be of immense help for job seekers from India.
on Aug 12, 2010Good to know about attitude of Australians.
on Aug 12, 2010