The following are Aayush Khatri’s set of responses to a questionnaire floated amongst MBA graduates to determine the top-50 Most Employable MBA Graduates of the Class of 2022. Amongst the massive number of entries and responses being evaluated, Aayush's story and profile stood out. Here's his story in his own words.
Name an instance where you wanted something and went out of your comfort zone to achieve it OR Tell us the biggest risk you have taken so far in your life.
I always wanted to pursue my engineering from IIT/NIT/IIIT. After completing my schooling, I secured admission to the best college in the state but couldn't get into any national-level college. It was still a great offer in hand and it was the opinion of my family and friends that I should go for it. Even I felt it was the right choice as my chances of converting to a top college in one year were 1 in 100. Yet, I wanted to take the risk for my dream college and instead of my parents and family forcing me to join the college, I decided to give myself one more chance by taking a drop. My parents weren't happy with my decision but I went against their will and took the biggest risk of my life.To get the desired result from my decision, I worked very hard, dedicating more than 15 hours every day to my studies. In the end, I was able to get into IIIT, one of my dream colleges, and succeeded in the biggest risk of taking a one-year drop. The outcome of my hard work also served as a great motivator which further led me to being awarded a Gold Medal in Engineering.
When was the last time someone relied on you? OR What did you do which was purely for someone else - a truly selfless act.
During my third year of engineering, I used to teach underprivileged children in an NGO. One day, a girl student came to me and said that she wouldn't be able to come from tomorrow as her parents were not allowing her to study. It came as a shock to me as the girl excelled in academics and would not get the opportunity to showcase and do something in the future.Being a mentor, I took the responsibility to visit her house and try to convince her parents to allow her to study. It took me around ten visits to her place and 2-3 hours of discussion every time because of the language barrier and the different thought processes to convince them and make them see what a bright future the little girl holds. It was a long battle but, in the end, they agreed. It makes me very happy to see that she's now in 10th standard and studies in a respected government school.
Tell us about a time when you disagreed with an opinion/idea/decision. What did you do about it?
I was selected as the co-head of events vertical in the annual Technical Fest of undergrad college in my third year. In the initial days, we had to lay down the proper road map of how things would proceed, determining the exact number of members we needed to conduct the fest. After arriving at the number, our next step was to select juniors who would be best suited for the position.During the time of interviews, there was a difference of opinions among the heads of different verticals. All of them, except me, favoured selecting juniors and making them work in all the verticals in batches. Disagreeing with this, I wanted everyone to choose the juniors who were best suited for a particular vertical and make them work in the same till the fest is executed.To come to a consensus, all the heads had a meeting where everyone pitched their opinions. I listened to what all of them had to say and calmly presented to them my rationale based on my prior experience. I also put forth some logical arguments like emphasising the reach of the Fest where multiple celebrities would perform and participants from different states would come. Any slack or mistake at this level would hamper the image of our college.This proved to be a turning point as they understood the criticality of the event and how this approach minimises the errors. When the meeting ended, almost everyone agreed with me, and we went ahead with the same strategy, and the event turned out to be a huge success.
What is the one thing you can claim to have some level of expertise or depth of knowledge in - it could be anything - a subject, a sport, a hobby, a venture, an initiative which has led you to do deep work in that field?
I have always been good in academics, and some subjects in my undergrad have fascinated me. One such subject, Thermoelectrics, was taught to us in the 2nd year, and since then, I have tried to explore the recent developments in that field. During the final year of my college, I got a chance to do my major project in the same field. I undertook a thesis-based research project which usually takes two years to complete. My mentor warned me that it might be a challenging task for one person to finish such a tedious project in just five months, but I decided to pursue it alone due to my interest in the field. Knowing the importance of time, I started working for about 8-9 hours every day. I continued this for a month and impressed by my progress; my mentor also started taking more interest. Whenever I was stuck in a problem for more than three days, my mentor provided me with useful resources and guidance to solve the problem. Sometimes, I even worked very long hours to solve a problem. As a result of the dedication, I completed my project and wrote a research paper that got accepted at the University of Washington, Seattle.
If 10 Million Dollars (approximately INR 75 Crores) is given to you to use it any way you deem fit what would you do with this corpus?
Coming from a weak financial background, I and my family have seen lots of struggles. If I get INR 73.5 Cr, the very first thing would be to pay back all the loans (which amounts to approximately 1 Cr) my family has borrowed. Next, I would purchase all the happiness including a bungalow, car, AC, and many more things that my parents deserve but gave up supporting me and my sisters future.My next investment would be for the poor children who have ample talent but are not able to show it due to lack of money. I have taught many underprivileged children who did not even have the luxury of schooling but are very eager to learn things. With this money, I would financially help 10-15 poor children throughout their education, starting from school till they land a job. Along with this, I would also donate some percent of the money to an NGO that feeds poor people.The next part of the money will be used to fulfil all my wishes that I had since I was a child and the remaining as an investment to secure my family's future.
Any Other Comments Or Factors You Would Like To Highlight About Yourself?
I have always been a bright and active student with an interest in both academics and co-curricular. My parents have always motivated me and inspired me to study hard and excel in academics. I have been awarded by Deans Merit List in both XLRI and IIIT Allahabad in terms of academics. I was also the Gold Medallist in my UG for scoring the highest CQPI in ECE. Apart from this, I was one of the finalists for the all-round excellence award out of 350+ students. While schooling, I was consistently in the top 3 of my class and received a CBSE Merit Certificate in class 12 for outstanding performance. I also show interest in sports, where I have won Golds in Squash and Basketball along with Bronze in Badminton at the inter-college level. At XLRI, I feel proud to represent the HR dept in the cricket tournament. I have also held many important positions of responsibility, including treasurer of the only Industrial Relation committee in India and the head of Events in the Annual Technical Festival of my college. Having a one-year work experience in the IT sector with Citi, I was complimented by Citi Gratitude Award for showing excellence in teamwork and designing innovative solutions. Before this, I interned with the same company and received PPO for outstanding performance.
Read the stories of the other Employable Graduates here!
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