From a teacher to a successful entrepreneur-cum-philanthropist, Radha Bhatia, chairman, Bird Group is an inspiration to many. She comes across as a very firm, calm and composed women when she spoke over the phone about her journey while in Hospital where her sister was undergoing a knee operation.
A graduate from Sophia Girls School in Meerut, Uttar Pradesh with a Master's Degree in Psychology from Raghunath Girls Post Graduate College, Meerut, Radha Bhatia taught for four years (1968-1972) at her alma mater. Following her marriage to Vijay Bhatia, Radha Bhatia moved to Delhi, and within a year started assisting her husband in the family business in the travel industry, though she has had no relevant formal education for the same. "My marriage was my turning point in life, I went with the flow with a strong determination to achieve my goals," said Bhatia.
She is a woman who has earned her way to the top with sheer hard work and not just because she is a wife of a business tycoon.
"I have seen the revolution in the travel trade industry. Earlier, the reservation system was very different. Some time during the 80s came the first computer, marking the era of technological revolution, after which we ventured with Amadeus," she recalls. Set up in 1994, Amadeus India Private Limited is wholly owned by Bird Group. The company offers state-of-the-art travel automation technology to the Indian travel industry.
Around the 80s, Bird Group was the GSA for Lufthansa for Punjab. It had offices in Chandigarh and Jalandhar, and established a successful association with the German airline, Bhatia said, adding that the business model was different at that point of time. "Impressed by our professionalism, Lufthansa gave us other regions to handle. We opened five to six offices in Uttar Pradesh in 1986 and captured the market in a year's time. My colleagues in Lufthansa assisted me in understanding the travel trade. It wasn't too difficult for me as I had the passion for what I was doing. Learning about an altogether new field was an enlightening experience," she elaborates.
Hiring fresh talent and training them the 'Bird' way has always been something that Bhatia has been fond of. "Rather than hiring trained professionals I hire people and then train them so they feel a sense of belonging in the organisation which would be their family," says Bhatia. She hires women and is very sensitive to their responsibility towards their family which according to him makes them doubly efficient at work.
Back when information technology was still developing in the aviation and OTA spaces, Bhatia noted a dearth of efficient training schools. Thus, taking forward her passion for teaching and training fresh talent, she decided to capitalise on the situation and established Bird Academy in 1998. The objective was quality workforce and perfect services to clients. "Currently, we are looking forward to tying up with management institutes for inculcating in our students managerial and multitasking skills," she informs.
Bhatia believes in giving back to the society. Bird Group has partnered with NGOs such as Sukarya which works for women health and empowerment. Well-functioning computers that are no longer useful to the company from the work point of view, and that can be used for learning basics, are donated.
Bhatia is enthusiastic about gardening, cooking, painting, and music, and makes it a point to indulge in her hobbies on a regular basis. During weekends, she tends to her garden and involves her grandchildren in planting seeds and saplings. He advise to young aspiring women is "Keep up your chin and walk straight towards your goals."