Namita Thapar reacts to Sridhar Vembu’s ‘marry in your 20s’ advice. ‘I was shocked’

Shark Tank India judge and Emcure Pharmaceuticals executive director Namita Thapar has reacted strongly to Zoho founder Sridhar Vembu’s recent advice urging young entrepreneurs to “marry and have kids in their 20s” as part of their “demographic duty” to society and their ancestors. Thapar highlighted how such “duty” rhetoric disproportionately affects women.(X/namitathapar) Vembu, who shared the advice while reposting a viral interaction of Upasana Konidela with IIT Hyderabad students, said, “I advise young entrepreneurs I meet, both men and women, to marry and have kids in their 20s and not keep postponing it. I tell them they have to do their demographic duty to society and their own ancestors. I know these notions may sound quaint or old-fashioned but I am sure these ideas will resonate again.” Now, reacting to this, Thapar posted a video on X, criticising the stance. “A leader with influence has a huge responsibility to use his/her voice responsibly to take up REAL issues. Ten minutes back, I was shocked to read about this ‘marry in your 20s’ gyan… similar to another favourite number of mine — ‘70’ hour work week!! Since you love numbers so much, I’d like to suggest 2 real numbers you can give gyan on next time: 1) 57% women have anaemia 2) less than 20% women participate in the workforce – and both numbers haven’t budged in years!” she wrote. “Would love to hear leaders do their DUTY towards us women addressing these issues… if you find time after taking care of duty towards your ancestors,” she added. In the accompanying video, Thapar doubled down on her criticism, highlighting how such “duty” rhetoric disproportionately affects women. “Duty? Iss duty mein nuksaan zyadatar women ka hota hai,” she said, offering a blunt breakdown of the physical and societal burdens women face, from periods at age 11 to pregnancy, motherhood expectations, and pre-menopause. “What about our duty towards prioritising our health, our needs and our dreams?” she asked. “And in that process, if we marry late, so be it.” Thapar also pointed to the “real numbers” she believes leaders should focus on: India’s persently high anaemia levels among women and the country’s stagnating female workforce participation rate. “Before talking about ‘duty’ towards your ancestors, why don’t you focus on your duty towards us, living women,” she said. (Also Read: Zoho’s Sridhar Vembu counters Upasana Konidela’s video on egg freezing, urges entrepreneurs to ‘marry, have kids in 20s’) Social media reactionsThapar’s reaction has sparked a discussion on social media about gender expectations, workplace culture and the responsibility of influential leaders to address structural issues rather than prescribe personal life choices. “Decisions like when to get married are highly context based. No general sweeping prescription should be made, particularly those who have big following. It is unfortunate when the so-called Influencers start preaching only through the prism of their life without understanding that their audience is too heterogeneous. Public figures need to be more responsible,” one user wrote. “if we truly care about india’s future, conversations should centre around nutrition, safety, education, access, and economic participation… not policing timelines for marriage or glorifying unsustainable work hours,” commented another. “Well said. Only if each one out there relied more on learning more about their own selves,their surroundings & what aligns best with their priorities at any point in time rather than following the ‘general gyaan’, things will turn out way better. No offence intended,” said a third user.