Abhishek Soni has lived across numerous locations throughout the country and thus, he brings a rich and diverse set of experience to the table. Born in Maharashtra, he completed his initial education in Hyderabad, B.Tech from Manipal, and he is currently pursuing his MBA at IIM Shillong. He got the opportunity to intern at Mercedes-Benz, Pune during engineering and at BPCL, Mumbai during MBA.
During the 19 months of his work experience, he worked at three plants of UltraTech (Rajasthan, Karnataka and Gujarat) taking up exigent and strenuous responsibilities. The highlight of this experience was the last posting where he worked at a plant located in Kutch close to the Pakistan border.
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 had chosen mechanical engineering as the stream of my undergraduate as I was really passionate about machines, especially cars. During the final year of engineering, I got an opportunity to intern at Mercedes-Benz, Pune. Working at Mercedes-Benz is a dream for many mechanical engineers and I was really excited that I would be getting a chance to do so. I was ready to face all the challenges to work there and complete my project. Looking back at my experience in those 4 months of internship, I would say that I have learned far more outside the office than what I learnt inside.
The plant was located in the outskirts of the city and hence, to reduce the travel time, I got a rented room on the outskirts of the city. The room was 10kms further away from the city. My office would start at 6.15 AM. There was no transportation facility available from that location. So, I had to ask for rides (lifts) from strangers on the road at 5.30 AM to reach the office. It would be completely dark at that time and for the strangers to trust me and for me to trust them would become a serious issue. Seeing this condition, my father later sent me an old bike from home.
This was the first time that I was staying in a place where there was no one to even cook food or clean the rooms. So, I had to learn to do all the work, including cleaning both the room and bathroom, doing the laundry, cooking etc., by myself. Although there wasn’t any problem in learning all of these, the main challenge was to manage the time along with the work.
The building where I stayed was one of the last buildings in that area beyond which there was only forest. My room had two windows which opened up towards the forest. It was a mesmerizing view in the morning, but as it turned night, the view turned very scary with all the noises and the darkness. I used to wake up at night with nightmares. It took at least 3-4 weeks for me to get adjusted to these surroundings. This experience has made me so strong that I can now stay anywhere without difficulties.
I did not have any relatives or friends in the city. So, I spent most of my time either at the office or in the room. After a month, a senior suggested me to change my routine and asked me to visit some places nearby. I too felt the need to try something new.
Eventually, I went on a 200 kms road-trip to some place, the next Sunday. The pleasure I got from this trip gave me the confidence to go out and explore the surroundings. Over the next three months, I went on many road trips, riding about 2500 kms and visiting many places around Pune. The journey which started that day has transformed me and since then I have visited those places, which I had never even thought about earlier.
Working at Mercedes-Benz was my dream and indeed it was fulfilled, but the experience I got by pushing myself to work there is something that has truly changed the way I look at the work and myself.
When was the last time someone relied on you? OR What did you do which was purely for someone else - a truly selfless act.
Towards the end of the final term of PGDM first year, my friend developed some health issues. He started coughing and getting mild fever occasionally. Just two days before the exams, the problems increased further, and I had to take him to a doctor. The visit to the hospital and the diagnostics tests took a considerable amount of our time. In all, the entire process took two days and the doctor suspected that he has Tuberculosis. The doctor, as such, was not sure and he wanted us to take a second opinion at a hospital in another city. This news came like a shock to him, his family members and me. Our exams had begun when the reports came. Also, he had got an offer from a leading FMCG company and his internship was about to begin in mater of 10 days from then.
A patient of Tuberculosis is required to be quarantined from the surroundings and other people. There were two choices at that moment for him. Either to go home and take the treatment or stay there, complete the exams and later go home. The situation had become quite worse with the ongoing exams and the internship starting in a matter of a few days. He had worked way too hard to get an opportunity to work at his dream company and he surely didn’t want to lose this opportunity. Also, if he does not take the examination at that time, it may result in certain grade downs.
To our respite, the doctor told us that his health condition was not in a dangerous state and the treatment, if required, could be started after a few days. Seeing the entire state, I asked him to stay back and complete the exams. I assured his parents that I would take care of him. For the next three days, I took care that he does not come in contact with anyone and I would be the sole responsible person for anything he needs. I got food and study material to his room. He was in pain all this while and I made sure that he got enough rest. While he was taking rest, I would study, and later teach him the important topics. These activities went on for the next three days.
Both of us were from Hyderabad and we had planned to go to our homes after the exams. Since, he had to see a specialist doctor as soon as possible, I cancelled my existing flight tickets, which were scheduled on a later date. I, then, booked tickets for both of us of the earliest flight possible, so that we could reach his home as soon as the exams got over.
I helped him in packing all his bags. It was a long journey from Shillong to Hyderabad and I took special care to make sure that he or his co-passengers do not face any problems in the journey. It was a great sight for both of us to see his parents at the airport. I was especially relieved that he was now in safe hands and he could start his treatment as soon as possible.
Now that I think of this episode, I believe that difficult times get out the best in you and I was able to do as much possible in my capacity so that all things fall in place.
The best past of this entire story was that the doctors denied that he had any major health issues, let alone TB, and he was able to work at his dream company with as much vigour as he always wanted. I couldn’t be any happier!
Tell us about a time when you disagreed with an opinion/idea/decision. What did you do about it?
In the second year of under graduation, I noticed that there was a lot of food wastage in the mess of my institute. The food waste was not being used for any constructive purposes and was either thrown away to landfills or given away as eatables to livestock.
When I researched about this, I came across a way to use food waste for generating biogas. I developed a plan to implement a biogas plant in the institute and proposed the same to the concerned authority. Due to certain internal reasons, they did not take any step to consider this proposal. The reasons they gave it to me did not seem convincing and refused to accept this. But, being a student, I did not have much say in the functioning of the institute.
I tried finding a place where I can develop a small working prototype of the model and show the benefits arising from the same. There was a school near the institute which cooked food as a part of mid-day meal for the students studying there. So, with the help of a professor from my department, I approached the school. They readily accepted the proposal and gave me complete access to their premises. Within 3 months, I developed a working model of biogas plant and installed it there. I monitored the working for the plant for a few months and worked on improving its efficiency. I showed the results to the professor and he was quite impressed with the way things have worked. The school had become completely self-sufficient and did not need to depend on LPG for their fuel requirement.
Now I had a proof of a working model of a biogas plant and the benefits that were arising from its usage. Towards the end of third year of under graduation, I presented this model at the innovation workshop of the institute and I received a consolation prize for the same. Also, I presented this at Provenance, the largest B-Plan competition of Karnataka, and was able to reach the final round in 2013. After these achievements, the institute decided to take steps in the direction on installing a biogas plant.
I was able to accomplish the above because I disagreed to let myself down when my proposal was rejected and worked to prove that one needs to think beyond their boundaries to achieve something extraordinary. While doing the same, I was able to work for the welfare of the school and help the students in a certain small way.