We all have these passions and interests that we want to pursue. But, then life throws us in various situations and we end up not pursuing them. For today's feature - Aaditya Kaul, it was a medical issue. However, he did not let that problem dictate his life. He went on to pursue his passion for music, and later marketing. What made him so brave and relentlessly persistent towards his goal? Find out why he deserves to be InsideIIM's Best 50 in this article. Read to know more.
The following is Aaditya Kaul's set of responses to a questionnaire floated amongst MBA graduates to determine the top-50 most employable MBA graduates of the Class of 2020. Amongst the massive number of entries and responses being evaluated by the Founder of InsideIIM-Kampus Konversations, Aaditya's story and profile stood out. Here's his story in his words.
"My upbringing is intensely shaped by the classic ‘Autobiography of a Yogi’ and other spiritual teachings. A child to working parents, I passionately seek excellence and perfection in whatever I am doing and strongly believe in leading a life of purpose, passion and inspiration. This guiding philosophy enhanced my outward expressions in the form of consistency in academics, receiving the gold medal in college, bagging the coveted CCRT GOI scholarship or scores of opportunities for individual performances notably at All India Radio, Doordarshan and ETV. I have never shown reluctance to pursue any co-curricular activities be it, sports, debating and publication for national magazines. Thus I regularly aspire for a meaningful role in whatever life offers and sincerely believe in the old adage that the more grateful one is, the more one receives to be grateful for."
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.
"It is always easy to start pursuing an interest out of one’s volition but difficult to pursue it as a continuing passion with a certain goal post in your mind and heart. Early in my childhood, my parents identified a spark in me for a sense of rhythm and tune. Thus I got exposed to learning classical vocal training in Guru-Shishya parampara initially at Dehradun and subsequently at Vadodara. Dehradun is very typical for allergies which are predominant during season change & in winter months. Early in my training, as a six-year-old, I experienced the symptoms of allergic conditions like stuffy nose, congestion which got more complex regularly and was diagnosed as an asthmatic condition. This threatened my self-belief to be able to pursue singing in an organized and rigorous way. For a young learner like me, a voice that could be free of such medical condition could only enhance the process of learning and appreciating the process. I soon felt it was not possible for me to be able to hit all the high notes while practising with an allergic condition which was not visible on the surface of it and I would end up practising with a hoarse voice. Singing while hoarse, meant you strain your vocal cords and risking setting back your recovery and making voice even worse. Amidst this medical condition and vocal chord changes due to adolescence, I persisted with the advice of my Guru and parents to continue learning and practising singing with self-moderation while opting for self-help, yoga and meditation. My Guru-teacher would start my practice that involved vocalizing on vowel sounds, chanting bija sounds both as a means to release negative energy of the medical condition and as an added benefit for developing voice culture and to bring the voice back into balance. As I retrospect, although initially daunting, daily stepping out of one’s comfort zone was both cumbersome and elating. Overcoming anxieties and having to step out and persist with singing practice proved a career bonus for me with which I got identified in my school, college and in immediate society apart from providing a sense of joy which can be cherished."
When was the last time someone relied on you? OR What did you do which was purely for someone else - a truly selfless act.
"Two years with XLRI Jamshedpur offered me an opportunity to appreciate a symbiotic relationship/exchange between seniors and juniors. I thoroughly enjoyed helping juniors, and also seniors, with resume/applications, GD-PI preparation, case consulting interview mocks and also preparation for summer internships. Often, a lack of motivation in student life results in self-inadequacy. Many students faced anxiety with respect to securing internships and placements at both my undergraduate college (NIT Surat) and XLRI. I regularly tried to enthuse and motivate batch mates and juniors to challenge and overcome such despairs. I provide them with a listening ear, encouragement, inspirational anecdotes and small practical solutions. I believe, such interactions are contagious and equally benefiting for both ends. I'm always extremely vocal about striving to lead a lifetime of purpose, passion and service. This thought alone inspires my daily activities from academics to publication, music to self-help and interactions. The pure joy I receive out of help and touching or improving someone's life is intense that subsequently inspires me to strive for growth and success. The power of willingness to be of service powerfully plays out, attracts unexpected results and deep satisfaction."
Tell us about a time when you disagreed with an opinion/idea/decision. What did you do about it?
"My internship at The Boston Consulting Group during summers provided me with multiple opportunities for managing difference of opinions to building consensus. I was staffed on a GTM case for one of India's top cement companies. While receiving my module on design and implementation of influencer loyalty/engagement program, senior leadership on my case presented their view and a working hypothesis on the market intelligence and insight which was to be subsequently used in developing the program construct. However, with multiple market visits, rounds of the survey, discussion and expert calls, I concluded a completely contrary view and insight off ground at the end of three weeks in the internship. Initially, I was extremely hesitant and reluctant to discuss the same with my senior leadership, doubtful of my process and eventual conclusion. Impact of such a difference of view on my internship PPO outcome also weighed on me. Moreover, the entire subsequent program value proposition construct depended on market intelligence and the influencer needs fulfilment insight that did not appear to align. Nevertheless, I followed my inner conviction for the contrarian conclusions and insight, prepared myself elaborately for the case team meetings where my module was to be discussed. I structured my insights with deeper nuances to combat pressure testing. This resulted in a lengthy discussion ensuing complete alignment on my hypothesis and way forward on the module. My partner and other senior leadership on the case also appreciated my steadfastness and conviction for my working hypothesis and outcome which immensely encouraged me to strive for better in the remaining weeks."
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 received Hindustani Classical Vocals training under Guru Shishya Parampara for 15 years, with Kirana and subsequently Agra Gharana. As a part of the training, I was taught to employ various voice culture techniques and exercises to create and prepare my voice and vocal cords. By way of learning a multitude of Raags, I learnt the syntax of each Raag and its presentation style under the constraint of the taal. Explaining the construct of the Raag and lyrics of the song for meaningful expression, while maintaining the purity of the Raag had a spiritual undertone to it. Completion of Prabhakar (basic degree of classical vocal), winning the CCRT, GOI scholarship or opportunities to perform at AIR, DD and other broadcast networks was only an outward aspect to a Sadhana whose learning curve started as a five-year-old and continued to be more an expression of self-discovery, fulfilment and self-management. As a management graduate, I possess the basic information of the managerial process competencies and have lately been exposed to a client-serving role in my internship at BCG. Over the next five-year horizon, I intend to pursue and work alongside our clients to solve their biggest challenges. I intend to seek a broad range of skills in BCG—from digital to interpersonal to analytical—in order to work with leading organizations across the spectrum, helping them execute value-creation opportunities that result in long-lasting impact."
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?
"During our first term at XLRI, we got the opportunity to interact with Prof. (Dr.) Mohan Kumar, Former Ambassador of India to France. Through his talk, he sensitized us towards pursuing socio-economic welfare causes for the upliftment of the marginalized in addition to usual business and work objectives. The above thought process along with subject courses like corporate sustainability, social entrepreneurship provided in me the impetus for self-belief towards pursuing profitable social entrepreneurship. India is considered a fertile ground for experimentation with renewable energy initiatives. Ernst & Young's renewable energy country attractiveness indices consistently rank India as among the top five attractive markets for renewable energy investment. Burning of husk is a very serious socio-environmental challenge which carries a potential health hazard besides significantly adding to the carbon footprint. Glaring pollution concerns of Delhi, Haryana & Punjab to name a few forces the need to adopt sustainable practices in agro-economy. Husk power systems in India, though running in a limited way presently, provide a massive sustainable, profitable and scalable business opportunity for waste monetization, clean power generation that is secure against theft besides rural employment. As per estimates, a number of potential customers for such a system based on renewables stands around 20+ million with potential 50,000 mini-grid sites. Various types of harvested husk-like paddy, rice, wheat to name a few can be easily converted to producer gas using such technology which subsequently can be turned into clean, readily available electricity for rural consumers. The system also carries a potential for byproducts like green incense manufacturing besides synchronizing solar, biomass gasification & other power plants for grid compatibility. I intend to initially float the intricacies of the business idea with venture capitalists, seed fund partners and other investors besides projecting my own corpus fund for firming up investment outlay required to set up series of mini-grid plants across select rural villages. I would also use my stint with BCG to discuss threadbare the business idea, market landscape, technological political and legal accounting challenges for pursuing the business opportunity informally initially and subsequently formally if required. Revenue and eventual profit generated from power plants set up in the initial phase will drive the upscaling of the business. Pursuing this social entrepreneurship proposition fits with my inner conviction of leading a life of purpose, passion and service."
Also read -
I Learned More About Micro-finance In An NGO, Than An Air-conditioned Library | Aman Killa, InsideIIM's Best 50
I Convinced A Mother Of 3 Girls To Send Them To School - Saloni Vyas, InsideIIM's Best 50