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.
This is my story of ordeals with English communication. I come from a Tier 2 city and my schooling was done in Marathi medium. Even though I was able to get into one of the top engineering colleges in Maharashtra, there was one thing I lacked English communication. I could barely hold a conversation with anyone in English. This affected not only my networking abilities but also left me in a rabbit hole of self-doubt and under-confidence. I took this up as a challenge and started working on it. I started watching English movies, Ted-Talks, and documentaries. I took up the initiative of reading at least 3 books in a month. Throughout my engineering, I improved myself, every day. In this journey, my friends supported me by suggesting resources & conversing with me in English every day. Gradually, I could see the change in my communication abilities. I started participating in debate and elocution competitions and won a few. Back in my first year, I could not even have dreamed of breaking into the finals of the IIM Lucknow national debate or scoring a 99.26 in the CAT VARC section. I could get myself out of the shackles of self-doubt, and that is the biggest accomplishment for me.
When was the last time someone relied on you? OR What did you do which was purely for someone else - a truly selfless act.
This incident is about an ex-colleague, who is a good friend too. In 2019, she was undergoing some family issues. Problems on the personal front accompanied by a state of low self-esteem hampered her performance at work. As soon as I realized this, I started talking with her more, to understand exactly what she is going through. To boost her self-esteem, I started asking her more questions regarding the analyses she had performed before, which were recognized and appreciated by our seniors. Additionally, I made sure that I always talk about positive things and make her realize her worth through subtle examples and incidents. Later, we got staffed on a specific sub-project and started working together. While I continued my specific approach of behavior with her, it helped her gain momentum in the task. Finally, she was able to work to her full capacity and together, we completed the task successfully. This analysis was approved by our manager and we both were recognized for the same. It was indeed a moment of pride to see a colleague, who once was struggling with self-esteem, earning accolades along with you. It also filled me with positivity and a feeling of satisfaction. If I can motivate and inspire others by adopting a specific thought process, I can do it for myself too. This made me realize how much of an impact a positive outlook can bring.
Tell us about a time when you disagreed with an opinion/idea/decision. What did you do about it?
While working on an analysis during my work experience, I encountered a logical process flaw in the set procedure. I raised this issue to my consultant and we both rectified the code. However, when I conveyed this across the team, people were reluctant to adopt this new method and to convey the same to respective clients; the major reason being- This might damage the credibility of previously produced results in clients' perception as they were produced with the erroneous method. I believed that clients should not be kept uninformed as this erroneous process might affect future analyses. This put us into a major dilemma, with our credibility at stake. Later, my consultant and I worked on comparative analysis for both the methods and showed that deviation falls in the tolerable range. This established the credibility of previous results, enabling us to safely convey the clients about a new procedure, without affecting their perception significantly. The whole situation was a learning experience for me. The way we handled it, was widely appreciated across the team. The most important learnings out of this were - firstly, every problem can have an innovative solution, satisfying all the stakeholders. One needs to be open and flexible enough to find such a solution. Secondly, people can have different opinions about a specific approach which I believe to be correct, however, everyone may be right on their part. An open discussion addressing everyones concerns can be fruitful in such cases.
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 am deeply passionate about history and I possess a genuine interest in reading and exploring. I have grown up listening to stories of Chatrapati Shivaji Maharaj, which was instrumental in developing this passion for history. This interest drove me towards visiting different forts and places of historical significance. I have been on treks to various forts in Maharashtra, exploring the history behind each. Each expedition has surprised me with stories of valor, passion and dedication. Even today, I make it a point to spend at least 30 mins to follow various blogs and articles about history and try to keep myself updated. As it is said, history repeats itself, one just needs to identify the patterns. I believe that reading about history has helped me to develop a perspective and opinion about the happenings of the world and think about them rationally without prejudices. Additionally, I have been able to draw a lot of inspiration from the endeavors of historical figures. Be it Napolean Bonapartes quests or Shivaji Maharajs escape from Agra Prison, each time I read about them, I am able to discover a new element in the story. I am waiting to go back to my fort exploration expeditions once normalcy restores.
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?
I would like to first keep 10%, that is 7 crores in different FDs and Debentures, the interest and coupons of which would go to my parents. Firstly, this would ensure a monthly income of approximately 5L (Average rate of interest for debentures being 8% till maturity). They have contributed a significant amount of time and resources to my education, and thus this would be a token of gratitude towards them. The next part of my spending would be giving it back to society. Being from a tier 2 city, I know the problems students struggle with, with either the lack of resources or proper guidance. I would want to bring a change here. I would like to use 10 crores to provide books and education to kids from tier 2 cities and help them to cope up with the mainstream competition. Additionally, I would like to put invest 10 crores in the capital market with an appropriate portfolio distribution and 5 crores in gold bonds. This will give me steady returns as well as multiply my reserves. I would also like to start a venture capital fund with 35 crores. Indias start-up industry is growing and coming up with innovative solutions and business proposals. These 20 crores would be the investment in Indias growth. Lastly, I would like to buy 2 houses each, one in Aurangabad and one in Pune costing 2crores each and a personal library in Pune. In conclusion, I would ensure that I give my parents the life they always dreamt of, give back to the society and contribute to the countrys growth, along with creating a steady source of income for myself through different investments.
Any Other Comments Or Factors You Would Like To Highlight About Yourself?
I have been a part of the debate society during my under-graduation and I am a member of SPeak , the public speaking club at SPJIMR. I have won various debate and elocution competitions including Ranade Karandak- one of the most prestigious debate competitions in Maharashtra. I was also able to break into the finals of IIM Lucknows national-level debate Joust. I like traveling and exploring different cultures and their cuisines. I cherish the dream of visiting every state in India. As it is said famously, one always remains a student in the entire lifespan. Following up on the same principle, I identify myself as a passionate learner and I am always in search of new things to learn and thereby turn myself into a better person. With no prior experience in sports, I was able to learn and play Table Tennis, Football, and Pool with my batchmates at SPJIMR at a fairly decent level. Additionally, I love to make memes and follow different meme trends. I have always found it fascinating how different brands have used memes to leverage their moment marketing campaigns. I find solace by writing poems in my free time, and I have been to various open-mics and poetry slams to express my thoughts.
Comments