A Girl's Journey From A Remote Village To IIM Calcutta

Do you feel disadvantaged in any sense when you are surrounded by metro-dwelling peers?
I have never felt so.Most of the people surrounding me are from IITs or NITs or from a metro or a city. I have never lived my life in a city. I belong to a very small village the name of which does not even exist in google map. I have travelled 100 kms daily to complete my education. Fighting all odds I am here today competing with the best minds in the country. I am at par with them, as motivated and hard working as others. I have dealt with various mindsets of people. Indeed I am proud of the fact that I have a good knowledge of the varying mentalities of all sections of Indians. This is what really helps me for my career in marketing and makes me unique. I scored 51st rank in Odisha JEE without any coaching. And then cleared PSU in the first attempt and again CAT in the first attempt. My mother has turned a small village girl to a living example for many parents.

Considering the fact that I have a similar background, I can totally relate to this. Aptly put. Moving ahead, any plans of doing something about Girl Education/Any plans of doing something to your village to improve it. What are your aspirations for the future?
I believe through my journey I was able to break numerous stereotypes stacked up against a common village girl in this country and I hope I might be able to set an example for the girls in my community for pursuing their dreams. Since childhood, my mother has inculcated in me the values to grow as a better person and give something to society in return. So, I would like to give back to the society with my involvement in opening orphanages and help underprivileged ones in contributing to India’s success story. I also want to help in the education of the girls of my country so that they become independent thinkers.

Finally, what other things excite you? What makes you keep going?
My mother has always been my source of motivation. Whenever I feel low and uncompetitive compared to people surrounding me I just close my eyes and remember my past. The struggles my mother has made to make me stand in the position where I am today, no one else could have done that. My mother is a housewife, she was not working, she took a head stand on my studies and proved to the whole community that given an opportunity students can actually do wonders. I also draw most of my motivation from a book “Satyanusaran”(The pursuit of truth), written by my honourable guru Sri Sri Thakur Anukul Chandra. According to him, one must be bold and brave, weakness is sin incarnate.

Despite all my academic pursuits, I never gave up on my passion for dancing. I have always found solace in dancing. I am a trained classical dancer and was able to incessantly continue my passion over the course of my journey till now and hope to do so in future as well. Dance keeps me going.

Thanks for sharing your experience. I am sure it would be of immense help to others in similar situation. Your story reminds me of Dangal movie
It was my pleasure. Great talking to you.

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About the Interviewer:

Niteen is a second-year student of IIM Calcutta and part of student member team of InsideIIM. Currently, reading ‘The Little Prince’, he has a knack of binge-watching TV shows. Basically, just another ‘brick in the wall’ trying to increase gross national happiness index. His thoughts are stars that he can’t fathom into constellations. He also goes by Eighth Samurai, South Indian Alan, Red Tooth, Invisible Hand. He believes in Batman, coz 'believe in yourself'.