InsideIIM.com brings to you an interview of Gaurav Loya, the first year topper of N L Dalmia, Mumbai college (2014-16) below-
Introduction- Gaurav Loya is currently pursuing MBA in Finance from N.L. Dalmia Institute of Management Studies & Research (NLDIMSR), Mumbai. He has completed his
B.E. Industrial from Nagpur University and has worked with
Wipro Technologies for 2 years as a Project Engineer. Besides being a consistent academic performer, he is also a university level volleyball player, a certified Pranic Healer and one who thrives to achieve excellence. He is someone who has a pragmatic approach to things and consistently innovates to create value.
Tell us about your educational background. What was your initial motivation to get into an NL Dalmia?
Being an Industrial engineer, I was exposed to management subjects at an early stage of my career. While working with Wipro Technologies, I actually felt the need of understanding the management concepts that will complement my technical knowledge and help me climb my career ladder swiftly. My work experience was great in terms of both character development and learning about various aspects of business and finance. I have worked for clients from BFSI sector – Credit Suisse Bank - the reason banking domain captured my interest. And then I prepared for MH-CET and got admitted in N L Dalmia Institute of Management Studies and Research (NLDIMSR).
"To be one amongst the toppers of my batch"- was that a strategy from day one of B- School or something that evolved eventually?
“Purpose is never created it is discovered!”
There was no strategy as such to be the topper of my batch. My clear objective was to swot management & finance concepts taught by eminent faculty at N L Dalmia.
If I were to tell what made me topper of the batch, it would be just 2 things:
HARD WORK & CONSISTENCY.
It is how well an individual can channelize his efforts that will determine the reward he gets.
Tell us about the most interesting experience that happened in the last one year that changed your outlook towards the B-Schools studies.
I got an opportunity to represent N L Dalmia at Dewang Mehta Award for Best Student in Management where students from other top B-Schools like IIMs, XLRI, TISS, JBIMS, and many more were nominated. There I realised that every individual is driven by 4 wheels: Intellect, Social, Physical and Spiritual. In India, maximum B-Schools focus on cultivation of Intellect wheel only, so every student must develop a blueprint of how to develop other 3 wheels and have a balanced persona. Very few top B-Schools offer balanced inputs that nurture all 4 wheels that drives every individual which make students of such institutes captivating managers & N L Dalmia is one of such B-Schools.
The level of competition would be insane at your B- School, and definitely maintaining a balance is important. What apart from maintaining a balance helped you to achieve this topper's badge?
Absolutely, there is fierce competition at NLDIMSR, but it is this vying environment that motivates me each morning to learn new things, thrive for excellence; as it is correctly said “self-motivation is the best motivation”. My work experience at Wipro Technologies helped me relate most of the management concepts that gave me an edge over others.
If you were to go back in time and change one thing about the last year, what would it be?
Umm.. Actually nothing needs to be changed about last year. I have learned a lot of things, faced challenges, made mistakes, became strong enough to correct them and profited from them, put in all my efforts to drive the best out of me, earned reward & recognition for my hard work in short order. All of my decisions turned out to be in my favour. So, the way last year went was absolutely perfect. It has been an astonishing journey @ N L Dalmia.
B- School is mostly about group activities. Were you used to this kind of team endeavour’s or was it a new experience for you? How would you rate your performance during the team activities?
I had experienced working in group activities during my graduation and my tenure at Wipro technologies. But group activities at B-Schools are a bit different. They provided me multiple opportunities to be a team leader as well as a team player. Working in a team setting is the most effective method to cultivate interpersonal skills, to learn how to contribute personal strengths to the team goal, to divide a complex task and delegate work, refine understanding through discussion, evaluate different options and arrive at the optimum solution to any case.
I would rate my performance one or two notch above other members during group activates.
How important do you think is the involvement in Extra- Curricular activities? Do you think these activities tend to deviate a student's mind from the initial academic goals set?
Academic subjects and extra-curricular activities complement each other but at the same time maintaining balance between the two is also important. Technical knowledge about specialisation of MBA stream is not enough to stand out from others; people skills are equally important to succeed at various facets of life. Actual management lessons are learnt when one possess the ability to successfully juggle multiple commitments, when student gets on the field, dirties his hands and gets the knowledge of classroom out there in the real world at an early stage of his career and what basic and better way than organising and participating in the extra-curricular activities. By getting indulged in extra-curricular events, students get to nurture there core management skills: Planning, Organising, Staffing, Leading, and Controlling.
Today’s dynamic and competitive industry demands a complete package, a manager who holds a proper balance in all the four wheels that drive an individual: Intellect, Social, Spiritual and Physical.
What would you like to advise this year's batch w.r.t academics, activities, & in general about the B- School life?
Have a clear vision what you are here for?
It’s all about prioritising things
Don’t procrastinate
Enjoy & Learn
These 2 years of MBA are most crucial years of your life. Learn anything and everything that interests you. How well you manage and utilize your time and efforts will determine your future.
We thank Gaurav for sharing his insights and experience with our readers.