Nitin Bajaj

Hey, everyone. Welcome to the industry show. I’m your host, Nitin Bajaj, and joining me today is Purnota Dutta Bahl. Purnota, welcome on the show.

Purnota Dutta Bahl

Thank you, Nitin. Thanks for having me.

Nitin Bajaj

Pleasure is all ours. So let’s start with who is Purnota?

Purnota Dutta Bahl

Well, I was thinking about that question, and what I’d like to tell you is I always define by myself or myself by who I am and not exactly my career and what I do. So, you know, because I have played a lot of roles in life, so I like to define myself as a mother first and foremost. I have 3 beautiful girls. I also love joining dots and solving big problems. I mean, that’s my jam in time. And currently, I am the CEO of Karol’s Foundation. It’s a foundation that provides nutrition to battling to children battling cancer in the country. And, while I was talking to my husband about this conversation, he reminded me to say that I am a wife as well. So he said, hey. You forgot. You’re a you’re a wife sometimes. So, yeah, that’s what I am. A mother, a social entrepreneur currently who loves solving problems, and a wife and a daughter.

Nitin Bajaj

Beautiful. Thank you so much for sharing that. And, you know, I recently found out about Cuddles and was very moved with the work you and the team are doing. I’d love to hear and for you to share a little more about the foundation, but also the why behind it. You know, you could have done gone on and taken on many different careers, could have been a commercial entrepreneur, if you will. But why this and why do this now?

Purnota Dutta Bahl

Sure. So I’d like to take the first part first, Nathan, which is about what is Cuddles. So Cuddles Foundation, like I mentioned, is possibly a unique foundation in the world that focuses on providing nutrition to children who are battling cancer in India. A quick look at the statistics which will put it all in perspective. In India, it’s estimated that about 75,000 children get cancer every year. Out of this 75,000, only 25,000 reach the hospitals. We don’t know what happens to the rest of the 50,000 kids. Of these 25%, we were losing 50% children because they were malnourished. A quick data point is most kids get leukemia and if you plug a malnourished child to chemotherapy, what happens is the chemotherapy, because it’s so aggressive, acts as a toxin. So the kids get horrible side effects. We’ve lost some kids. So the purpose of Cuddles Foundation is to make sure this 25%, if they’ve reached the hospital, there is no way they should drop out just because they’re malnourished because the solution is so simple. And it’s our goal that by 2025, we want to reach out to 80% children battling cancer in the country. So that’s a bit about Cuddles Foundation, what we do. And your next question of why you, why now? The quick answer to that is if not now, then when? You know the what? And if not me, then who? I wish I had a more deeper answer to that. But on a macro level, my answer would be that currently in India, the time is conducive. There’s a lot of, information about cancer, how curable it is, and the government is putting in a lot of effort and a lot of resources behind treatment. So the time now is right to complement it with nutrition so that more and more children are able to complete treatment and get well because guess what? Childhood cancer is really really really curable.

Nitin Bajaj

Again, amazing cause. Was really moved and still am when I heard that this is a problem. This is a need. Really glad that you and the team are working on it, and congratulations for your 10th anniversary.

Purnota Dutta Bahl

Thank you. Thank you. It was a big one, a very special one.

Nitin Bajaj

Yes. So kudos to you and the team again for helping these children, saving these lives, and making a true impact not just for them, but their families, their friends. And especially when, as you said, this is a very simple and easy problem to solve if we put the right resources behind it. So kudos to you. You talked about the the size and scale and the numbers, and, you know, I would love for you to tell us what is the one big challenge

Purnota Dutta Bahl

you and the team are facing? You know, my number one challenge, Nathan, from the beginning is no different than any other entrepreneur, social, or otherwise faces, which is talent.

Nitin Bajaj

Yeah.

Purnota Dutta Bahl

We find it really hard to get talent. I would say that the challenge is slightly more complex for us because we are not able to compensate what the market compensates. Mhmm. So there is a very tiny intersection of a Venn diagram of really qualified, having, you know, work experience, having had worked at a certain level and not being the primary caregiver or the primary, bread earner of the family. And the intersection of it is so small, and we we’ve traditionally had to hire from there. At Cuddles Foundation, we do not compromise on talent because we deeply believe that to solve the biggest problem, you need the brightest minds.

Nitin Bajaj

True.

Purnota Dutta Bahl

And so this challenge from the beginning continues to be a challenge. However, I would say now that it’s becoming better because there’s a lot of awareness about things like how much is enough? What do I do? What do I want to do with my life? Do I want to keep spending these 12 hours doing what I have been doing? Those are questions that professionals are asking and moving towards philanthropy.

Nitin Bajaj

And, again, you know, this cause as any will really move and touch the heart. So, yeah, great to hear that, talent is moving your way. Now on the flip side of challenges come opportunities, and I would really love to hear what’s that most exciting opportunity that you’re looking at and and driving towards?

Purnota Dutta Bahl

You know, tech has always re excited me, Nitin. In my past life, I was also with a tech driven organization, and I am really excited to see how we are able to take this simple solution that we have created in India and take it globally through tech. So we have developed an app which is called FoodHeals app, which automates a lot of what we do, right, from assessing the grade of malmarishment to a child to really giving dietary recommendations. And now we want to take this, we want to open source it, we want to hive it off, and we want to give it, to other countries who are solving the same problem but don’t have the resources. The other thing that’s personally exciting me about this opportunity is that in India, we are used to having these large organizations like Bill and Melinda Gates, etcetera, come from developed countries and saying, here here is a solution. This is one of the opportunities where we are seeing India shining and where something developed in India will now be taken to developed as well as underdeveloped countries to say here is a simple solution.

Nitin Bajaj

Great example of made in India for the world. That’s awesome.

Purnota Dutta Bahl

Yeah. That’s exciting.

Nitin Bajaj

Moneta, as we look forward on, you know, what you are building, what your team is working on, and spreading it across, I’d love for you to take a moment and reflect back and look at and share with us 2 examples. 1, that exceeded your own expectations, and another one that did not work out as you had expected and was a failure became a lesson.

Purnota Dutta Bahl

So I’ll I’ll start with the good actually, because that is comes to me easily. And what as you say, I’m not a realist, Nathan. I’m a I’m a optimist or more than optimist. What so what has really worked, what I’m really, really proud of, right, which exceeded my expectations, again, goes back to the team, and that’s the only credit I take that I have been able to create. We have some of the best minds gone to the best universities, Ivy League Schools internationally and in the country, having the best experiences from eye bankers to researchers to doctors who’ve come together to solve the problem. I’m incredibly proud about the team that I have been able to put together. And because of this team, there have been things like the rate at which we’ve grown, the transparency, the resources that we have been able to mobilize, the streamlining of ops. You look at the organization and, you know, I I look at it like a proud mom saying, you know, that this is what I’ve been able to create, and really that’s the only credit I take. And something that’s not worked out, when I look back again, will have to do with the team. In the past, in the very recent past, we’ve had an experience where, I went I did not listen to my gut, Nitin. I I always wait for the right person for the right position. Mhmm. You know, I think we panicked a bit. We had been looking for someone really senior. We got someone who was perfect on paper, was not culturally aligned. Mhmm. Right? Despite me knowing that how important cultural alignment is, we brought this person in, and then we had to exit this person, which was messy. It had, the team morale went down. So, really, it was universe’s way of reminding me that there is a reason the system works, the system that we have internally created for Kuddles. To give you a quick example, we waited for 2 and a half hour 2 and a half years. I wish it was ours. 2 and a half years to hire head of programs. We died those two and a half years because the COO and me were doing a lot of programmatic stuff, but that was so worth the wait. And if you look at the head of programs now, Boyami, worked out. So yeah.

Nitin Bajaj

Glad it was a a lesson that now stays with the organization. And as you grow, right, that’s that’s one thing we learn is the more mistakes we make when we are younger, it pays off as as long as the lesson stayed. Well, thanks for being vulnerable. Thanks for being open and transparent about these lessons. These are not easy, especially when you’re going through them. So really appreciate you being open and transparent about them. Now I’d like to transition us into my favorite part of the show, which we call the one line life lessons. Would love for you to share some of your life lessons with us.

Purnota Dutta Bahl

Yeah. Well, some I’ll give you one line, Nitin. Some might need, explanations. You can ask me later if you don’t understand. Right? The first thing that helps me get through everything in life, I follow good thing, bad thing, who knows. Right? It’s a it’s it comes from a zen philosophy, helps me get through everything. The other thing that I have learned while living through cuddles is the only thing limiting us is us, or the only thing limiting me is me. It’s just about knowing where you’re going, where you want to go, and then it all works out. The third one is if you can spot it, you’ve got it. Right. Helps me a lot for this. Really a famous book and, again, is a Zen philosophy that says, be here now. And the 5th reminder I give myself is life is an upward spiral.

Nitin Bajaj

Beautiful. Love every single one of them.

Purnota Dutta Bahl

Sorry?

Nitin Bajaj

I said love every single one of them.

Purnota Dutta Bahl

Oh, okay. Thank you. Thank you.

Nitin Bajaj

You know, one one reason why we came up with these one line life lessons was how do we get something that’s simple yet profound and can often be the difference between where you’re headed in your professional, but also your personal journey. And the one lines that you shared with us fit exactly in the in that domain. So thank you again for sharing those.

Purnota Dutta Bahl

You’re most welcome. I had fun thinking about those, Nitin, to say what what drives me and, like, what have I learned and and what are my beliefs and how do we distill it in one life?

Nitin Bajaj

Yes. Not easy most times, but if you have clarity of thought, they just flow, and and it’s very obvious that you do. And it’s also obvious in the work and the impact that you and the team have created and continue to work on. So, kudos and congratulations for all that you have accomplished till now, and I know a lot more successes coming here pretty soon. Thank you again for making the time to be with us, for sharing your journey, your story, and your life lessons with us. We really appreciate it.

Purnota Dutta Bahl

Thank you, Nitin. I mean, this is an awesome opportunity because very few people know that malnourishment in childhood cancer is a issue, and people like you help us amplify and, you know, help us reach this message to thousands of people out there. So thank you for this opportunity.

Nitin Bajaj

No. Thanks again. Thank you. And this is a very insignificant contribution, and I’m sure many more people will join this tribe that you have created to essentially eliminate this problem. So thank you again.

Purnota Dutta Bahl

Thanks,