IIM Shillong - Some Crazy People, Now My Batchmates

The first personality that I would like to talk about would be Sourabh Khot. The more I knew about him, the more I started respecting him. I started realising that instead of being very talented, he always used to doubt his abilities and for the same, he was kind of a very reserved person. He was like a typical underdog who hardly believed in himself but later went on to achieve great things. We were also among the group of people who went to study abroad programme in Paris. I asked him there in Paris that why you came here, I mean is it study or just to visit a foreign land or what. The answer surprised me. He said “It’s none of these. The fact that I have never felt so empowered which I am feeling now makes me better about myself. I always used to feel like that I am not worth these things but being here makes me feel good”. Perhaps his highest point here at IIM Shillong would be winning “Steel-A-Thon”, a national level b-school competition under the Tata Steel banner. I still remember that night. He was actually crying, tears of happiness. He said “All my life I felt that I am good for nothing and suddenly this happened. Today I feel like I made everyone proud”.

What Sourabh taught me that no matter what your background is, no matter if you are talented enough or not, no matter if you have achieved anything significant in your life or not, there is always something better you can do, and to do so the only thing you need is self-belief and hard work.

The second person about whom I would like to talk about is Kaustubh Tarmale. Kaustubh is no more with us. He died few months back. The cause of his death was drowning in an attempt to save some of his cousins from drowning. Though he saved them but unfortunately, due to the strong current and increasing depth of water, he couldn't save himself. He is still alive with me and with everyone around here. He was a man of life, always smiling and caring. You ask him any favour and he would be the most go-to guy for the same. Perhaps what he was able to achieve which many of us can’t do in our entire life, is that he lived his life rather than just spending time. What Kaustubh taught me that this life is actually very short, and we are so busy in our lives that we often forget to realize the good things we already have.

 

WHICH ABG COMPANY WOULD YOU WANT TO WORK FOR AND WHY?

If given a chance I would like to join Aditya Birla Retail Limited (ABRL). Prior to joining IIM Shillong, I have worked for close to 5 years in various client facing assignments and majority of my exposure was in Retail vertical where I managed portfolios of some of the great international clients such Staples Inc., a leading US based retail supplier of office products; Costco, a chain of membership only warehouse clubs; and 7-Eleven, chain of convenience stores. These experiences gave me immense learning opportunities and know-how of this sector and hence I find a good fit in ABRL.

  Vivek Kumar PGP 2nd Year IIM Shillong