'Steely will and a heart of gold, my sister Usha'
Adman Titus Upputuru writes about the sacrifices of his beloved sister, Usha Hephzibah Upputuru, who raised him and his brothers following their mother's untimely death
Usha Hephzibah Upputuru, my sister, is a Hero of our modern times. She was born on the 18th of April. Twenty years later, on the same day, our mom died in a Train Accident. Usha was with her on that fateful day.
Now this could have a huge psychological impact on ordinary souls. But Usha is made of a stronger mettle. She came through this very tragic circumstance in her life with aplomb. As a young woman barely out of her teens, she became a mother to her brothers and took charge of the large home that our mom left behind.
She took care of it with a sudden natural poise and elan. Before Mom died, we rarely saw Usha in the kitchen or doing any household duties. But after mom died, we all did our bit, but she was the one who took charge. I fondly remember how she used to pack lunch for me as I went to study.
Usha Hephzibah Upputuru
Mom was a teacher when she was around. Pretty soon, Usha, the new mom in the house, took up a job too. She started looking after home and her work with equal ease.
But she didn’t leave it at that. After a few stints with The Times of India, The Pioneer, and few other reputed companies, she was the first in the family to turn an entrepreneur. She opened her own placement agency – Head & Tail Hunters. Through her outfit, she has placed some of the Top officials in the country today, including presidents, vice presidents, planning heads, chief creative officers and some junior creatives too. She has many friends in the industry who look up to her, daily, for career advice. They are constantly calling her up; her phone is seldom quiet.
Her secret sauce? Ask her and she will owe it all to God. Who I think has gifted her a stubborn habit of not taking ‘no’ for an answer. Not when life threw her innocent world into a storm, not now if a client refuses to get her agency empanelled.
Despite her steely will and indomitable spirit, what makes her so special is her extremely kind heart. If she knows that someone across the ocean has merely sneezed, she will call him or her a hundred times until they have fully recovered. She has a heart of gold. Gold that has gone through the fire. Shining with her million-watt smile and laughing like the girl who was still playing in the park.
