In our list of India's Best 50 - the 50 Most Employable Students from the Class of 2021-23, we feature MBA students who have walked that extra mile and done that little more to stand out! One of those featured in today's story, Mahi Gangwar, has shown an incredible amount of passion to achieve her true potential. Read on and find out her story!
The following are Mahi Gangwar’s set of responses to a questionnaire floated amongst MBA graduates to determine the top 50 Most Employable MBA Graduates of the Class of 2023. Amongst the massive number of entries and responses being evaluated, Mahi's story and profile stood out. Here's her story in her own words.
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.
One instance which was highly discomforting for me personally and professionally was the time when I left my job in 2020. It was a tough decision to quit my job as the sole breadwinner after my father's offer was revoked from the company he had just started working for. My siblings were in school, so we were all on a tight budget, and I was the one responsible for making ends meet.As a result, I was having a hard time maintaining a positive mental attitude at work, and I eventually decided to quit because it was interfering with my ability to be ready to enrol in the university of my dreams. It was quite challenging to manage the kind of job atmosphere I was in, commuting 5-6 hours in a day with chronic disease and then allocating time for education. I resolved to focus on one thing which was start preparing properly and committed the requisites time to my studies rather than sailing in numerous boats at a time. Because of the severity of the impact caused by Covid-19, I was worried that even if I failed, I wouldn't be able to find work during the pandemic. But I preserved sanity of my mind and merely kept working hard slogging day and night. IIM-Ahmedabad called me after the exam, bringing me one step closer to my goal, but fate had other plans: only a few days before my interview, my entire family tested positive for covid. There was nobody to look after us, so I had to take charge. I used to take care of them all, including myself, but as the viral load increased, things got worse for everyone, especially my mother. She caught lungs infection and we couldn't even admit her into the hospital but arrange oxygen cylinder at home. In all this I had to focus on my career where my family needed me. So, literally went out of physical as well as mental comfort zone and nevertheless, I continued and began studying at night, while making all of them asleep. It was mentally and physically draining but I just gave my all to realise my ambition. In my opinion, this was a very risky and unpleasant situation for me because with myself, my whole family was involved. This experience taught me that no matter how difficult the situation is, if you are determined, devoted, and remain persistently involved towards your action, you can achieve anything.
When was the last time someone relied on you? OR What did you do which was purely for someone else - a truly selfless act?
I believe we follow a circular learning process; whatever we engrained, it is of no use if we can't use it for the good of ourselves and the people around us. To live up to my words, I have always tried to contribute to society to my best capabilities. When I was pursuing my undergrad at Shri Ram College of Commerce, I joined the National Service Scheme. I grabbed an opportunity to work for the welfare of women under the women empowerment wing. We organized several social programs for women, but most of them were for short-term benefit. I wished to contribute to the society in a way that would have lasting effects and foster independence among the society's dependent women. Menstrual hygiene issues are something I've always wanted to investigate further. So, I conceptualized project SHAKTI to create awareness on menstrual hygiene, instil confidence in women to talk about it, and build self-confidence relating to this stigma persisting in society. The challenging issue is that we were not allowed to initiate any such new project on ourselves; it should come from the higher authority. But I didn't lose hope and persuaded the society teacher to talk to the principal to initiate the project. I got permission, but no funding or any other resource was provided to implement the project successfully. We partnered with the Azad Foundation, a Delhi-based non-governmental organisation, to provide them with the materials and training they need to produce sanitary napkins by hand, thereby extending their period of self-sufficiency. I held training workshops to get them used to the sanitary pads, paired 70 women up with mentors from other NSS branches so they could talk one-on-one about the challenges they face, and kept in continual communication with them to make sure we didn't lose that thread when the project was implemented. We taught them how to produce sanitary pads from scratch, which they could use themselves and also sell to surrounding villages. In doing so, I hoped to encourage them to become self-sufficient while also fostering better personal care and hygienic practises. I will always count this as one of my most significant achievements when I look back on my life. Seeing the positive impact my decisions have on another person's life is incredibly rewarding, and I'm a firm believer that the satisfaction gained from performing a selfless act is unparalleled.
Tell us about a time when you disagreed with an opinion/idea/decision. What did you do about it?
The instance is connected to something that happened at my professional work experience and at a branch meeting. One of the male employees at the branch made some lewd remarks to one of the female employees at the cake celebration. She lodged an official complaint with authorities about the matter, but again, because of technicalities, she needed someone to act on her behalf during the investigation. Some others overheard our conversation and heard her complaint being substantiated; they urged me to back off as well after hearing our conversation. It was decided by those present that no one would say anything further that could be used against them in this case. They cautioned me, too, not to get wrapped up in the drama and to instead focus on keeping our careers unsullied. I deliberated long and hard over whether or not to represent her after the POSH committee, especially since I am just starting out in my chosen field. But every time we had a conversation, I placed myself in her shoes and imagined how severely it would upset me to see people revising their statement. For us, it was simply a matter of telling the truth; for her, it was about the loss of her dignity and the inability to stand up for herself when those who had vowed to support her in the wake of her complaint abandoned her. The group opted against speaking up for her, so I did it. I told her what I could remember hearing and seeing in the meeting and did what I could to assist her. The committee decision to find that person at fault ultimately resulted in a favourable outcome for her. In the end, I made the right choice and felt happy that I hadn't caved to the pressure of the majority. This experience taught me the importance of being mindful of one's ideals and empathic when making choices.
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 that has led you to do deep work in that field?
I had a lifelong desire to try out different sports, but my family's pragmatic ideals and our traditional approach to schooling meant that I was forced to prioritise academics above extracurricular activities. When I was in eleventh grade, we were assigned a new physical education teacher who decided to taught us volleyball. Even though the principal gave his blessing for the boys to do it, he had to fight for the girls to get her agreement.We had over a year of practise and were even chosen for the district squad, but our principal denied our request to play in the district match because the examination dates were approaching. But I continued to get trained outside of class times, and I picked it back up again when I was an undergraduate. While I was unable to present at the national level, my success in IIM Ahmedabad's "section wars," or inter-college competitions, helped me earn a spot as vice-captain. Being a bookworm, the fact that I've finally gotten out of the house and picked up an activity that makes me feel better and that I've even begun passing on what I've learnt to my younger classmates and fellow batchmates fills me with joy.
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?
I would divide the money into four pieces and use it to pursue my goals. I plan to prioritise my family's needs first and foremost. We have resided for the majority of our lives in rented homes, and we currently reside in a small house. So, I want to gift my mom a house in our hometown and my dad a car (totalling around 10% of the amount), two things I know they've wanted for a long time but have put off while making sacrifices for us, and I'll also set aside 10% of the amount for them to put into savings. 20% of the money will go toward my siblings' education, and giving them opportunity to pursue their career in whatever field they want to without any hesitation. Next 15% I want to start my own business either into event management industry or food & restaurant industry. I plan to set aside 5% to use as capital and invest in some sort of financial instrument for money creation.Remaining 20% of the amount, I want to equally invest in establishing old age homes for parents who are surviving on their own, accommodation and educational facilities for needy physically and mentally disable people and finally, a lifelong ambition of mine is to open a dance academy to enrol aspirants free of cost to pursue their passion.
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As per government tax payers' data and our assessment, only about 6,00,000 Indian taxpayers earn an annual 'salaried' income of INR 30 lacs or above. And only 11,00,000 Indian taxpayers earn a 'total' income of INR 30 lacs or more.
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