Do Not Get Scared To Dream Big - Utkarsha Srivastava From XLRI - Celebrating Womanhood On InsideIIM

Strange how my mind races to the bountiful opportunities that would open up if this fantasy were true but it immediately constricts itself to the limitations of my wishes. Even if money was not a factor to consider, I would still invest in people and friendships and maybe give in to my gourmand cravings once in a while.

What advice would you give to a 5-year-younger you?

Do the things that are in your control and everything else will eventually fall into place. It is the journey that will matter in the end so make the most of it. Do not get scared to dream big. Do not let others’ opinion cloud your thinking. Let no factor that is in your control get decided by external influences and let go of all others.

How do you think women are better equipped to deal with problems as compared to men?

The war of gender supremacy can be never ending if we choose so and hence I feel in the changing times, the fine line of archaic role division has faded significantly. One difference although that I have observed is that women are better at balancing different roles and juggling various hats.

Many IIMs and other b-schools award extra points for being a woman. What is your take on that? Do you propagate the concept OR Have you faced any backlash for the same?

Although there have been substantial improvements toward achieving gender parity in higher education over the past decades, women are not represented equally in the higher echelons of most of the organisations and this necessitates the promotion of higher education for girls. Consequences of this are very evident if we take examples from our bschools too. Women are often doubted in terms of their capabilities because of this reason and it develops a feeling of disgust in most women when they are made to feel that they made it to those schools just because of their gender.

Name one incident that you encountered where someone told you, you couldn’t do something because you’re a woman.

There have been times where I have been asked to give up my ambitions because it did not comply with the society’s norms. Be it joining MBA GD-PI coaching that ran post office hours until 10 pm or participating in competitions conducted in other cities, I am sure every girl would have a few such examples in her bucket. We females have to strive harder and persist longer to prove ourselves and achieve our ambitions.

If you are out on a date, do you prefer to pay yourself? If you insisted that you want to pay for yourself, how did the other person react?

I personally believe that this is perfectly normal and I have always ensured to do so. The people around me have been sensitive enough to value that sentiment. With changing times, going dutch has become the norm rather as opposed to the conventional idea of someone else paying for us.