Kartika Khunt from the Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad is one of India's Most Promising Incoming MBA Students 2022!
The following is Kartika Khunt's set of responses to a questionnaire floated amongst incoming MBA graduates to determine the top-50 Most Promising Incoming MBA students of 2022. Amongst the massive number of entries and responses being evaluated, Kartika's story and profile stood out. Here's her story in her words.
I am Kartika , Kartika means bestower of courage . I have demonstrated courage in my life till now to follow my heart. I have a diverse profile ranging from participating in sports, cultural, and management activities to doing volunteering work in college. I have done my undergrad at IIT Roorkee. Professionally, I interned at Microland Limited during my 3rd year and bagged a PPO. I have worked in the automation team for close to three years. I have multiple hobbies including basketball, mandala art, gardening and hula-hopping.
Tell us more about your extracurricular achievements
I started playing basketball as a member of NSO IIT Roorkee which gradually motivated me to improve my skills and play for the college team. I have represented and won medals for my college at various inter-college sports tournaments. Sports have helped me imbibe virtues like teamwork, performing under pressure, and discipline. I was also a member of UBA (Unnat Bharat Abhiyan), which is a multi-institutional MHRD program to uplift rural India. I have organized health camps and workshops for young girls focused on education and health.I was the event coordinator of VOGUE in the college cultural fest twice in a row and my responsibilities included managing sponsorships, promotions, and hospitality. These activities have helped me improve my skills of interpersonal communication, multi-tasking, and time management.
Tell us about a time when you messed up, and what you learnt from the experience?
During my first year in college, I joined Unnat Bharat Abhiyan (UBA). We had planned a health camp for people in Chharba village.Our task as a group of freshers was to bring people to the camp. We visited different households and informed them about the health camp. We even distributed a detailed brochure for the same. People did listen to us out of politeness, but eventually, very few people turned up on the day of the camp. We had arranged for seating for 150 people, but hardly 30-40 people turned up. We then tried to understand this and even spoke to the village sarpanch. We realized that the approach we took was flawed. We should have initiated informal conversations with them and made them a little familiar with the team and explain to them about the health camp in a more engaging way rather than just presenting information to them.
Tell us something about yourself that others may be surprised to know about you.
Well, I don't know if it's surprising, but growing up, I always wanted to be a pilot. I wanted to become a commercial pilot until like 9th grade. Eventually, when one of my cousins couldn't get a pilot license after completing his training and all other formalities and a huge debt due to multiple personal and systemic challenges. My family became very paranoid about the whole idea, and I decided to pursue something else. But asked today, I would still love to learn to fly a plane and get a Private Pilot License.
What have been your two biggest successes in life? What did you learn from them?
- Mentoring my younger brother in achieving his goals and fulfilling his dream of getting admission to his dream college. It was a bit surprising, but I was happier than him about his results.
- Clearing JEE advanced and bagging a seat at IIT Roorkee has been a special moment for me so far. It has in fact been a roller-coaster journey for my family and me. It definitively changed the course of my life, and I will forever be grateful.
Professionally, what is your ideal image of yourself five years from now? Where do you see yourself?
Professionally, I want to be in a senior leadership position in a firm in the long run, where my input would lead the company to take wise decisions. I would be more stable in my career, with the learning curve to continue to grow. But most importantly, I want to be in a position where I can stop running the smaller races and finally do something for the greater good.
What is the one skill or characteristic you possess that you are most proud of, and why?
I am proud of the fact that I am courageous. Moving out of my hometown after my 10th board exams to pursue my dreams was courageous and challenging for me. The society I lived in was not much open about investing time, money, and efforts in a girl childs higher education. I consider myself extremely lucky to have supportive parents who had faith in me and my courage despite all the hardships and societal pressures. I went to Kota for my IITJEE preparations knowing that this was going to be a very tough journey managing things on my own outside home for the first time and also preparing for a very competitive exam. There were multiple lows during this 2-year journey, but I remained confident and consistently prepared for my goal. The biggest takeaway from this journey is courage gave me the power to chase after things that are important to me. It bolstered my self-confidence and self-belief.
In your opinion, what skills or qualities does a successful manager possess?
A successful manager should have good interpersonal skills, empathy, decision-making skills and good delegation. In today's times, where things are moving so fast, people have so many opportunities out there. A Manager's role becomes very crucial in a team to maintain a healthy environment as well as get things done efficiently. A successful manager today has to be invested in a lot more things than just getting job tasks done and targets being met.
Tell us about an ethical dilemma that you may have faced, and how you resolved it.
There was an IITRv/sIITK boys basketball match during interIIT sports meet. Both the teams were playing well. The opposite team captain sprained his right hand badly in the second quarter and was replaced by another player. He was their best player and was the reason the team was scoring well. I was standing with our bench players and could see his finger joint was dislocated. The medical help took time to come. I decided to call our coach, who I knew could fix this. But my friend asked me to let him wait for the doctor as she knew if the coach fixed his hand, he would get back in the game, and our team might lose. I convinced my friend that it was morally wrong, and sportsmanship comes over winning. Eventually, our coach helped him, and he was able to play. Unfortunately, our team did lose that match.
If you were the CEO of any company of your choosing, which company would you choose and what would your first action be as CEO?
The one company which I would like to be CEO is the Tata Group. This is because their core values of integrity and excellence are some things which align with my self-beliefs of having a strong knowledge base to excel in life and also be dedicated to our work. Other than these core values, the spirit of giving back to the community is imbibed in every action of the company, which inspires me and motivates me to work for the betterment of society as much as possible. Mr Ratan Tatas down-to-earth stature is one thing that strengthens my belief in achieving success while being humble.
Any Other Comments Or Factors You Would Like To Highlight About Yourself?
Ambition and diligence are two values that have shaped me so far. I have always tried to make the best out of the opportunities in front of me and will continue to do so. One thing I learned during undergrad was the importance of giving back to society. Working for two years with Unnat Bharat Abhiyan was the best time I have had in college. Visiting villages in the beautiful Uttarakhand, connecting with people, and trying to contribute in any way, was an amazing experience. I want to continue doing so in future and use whatever platform I get to give back to society.