In our list of India's Best 50 - the 50 Most Employable Students from the Class of 2020-22, 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, Muskan Maheshwari, has shown an incredible amount of passion to achieve her true potential. Read on and find out her story!
The following are Muskan Maheshwari’s set of responses to a questionnaire floated amongst MBA graduates to determine the top-50 Most Employable MBA Graduates of the Class of 2022. Amongst the massive number of entries and responses being evaluated, Muskan'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.
It was class 12th - the most important year for any commerce stream student who is aspiring to get into the top colleges of Delhi University. I was diagnosed with PCOS ( a hormonal imbalance condition) - with constant pressure, unhealthy sleep cycle - the symptoms worsened. As fate and health would have it, I couldn't make it to the college I was aspiring. Being from a small town with a population of just 14000 and not a lot of people knowing of the opportunities out there my career seemed to come at a standstill. I took it upon myself to understand what were my career options and then through internet surfing I got to know of Shaheed Sukhdev College of Business Studies - The best undergrad B-school in India offering BMS ( Bachelors of Management Studies). The college gave an admission via assessing performance in one of its entrance tests. In order to pursue my dream, it was essential to leave the house and go to Delhi to start coaching for the exam - I didn't have much time. I rented a PG in the streets of North Delhi and started going to a private library to study from 9:00 am-9:00 pm. This period taught me a lot. In the backdrop of anxiety stress and the worsening symptoms of PCOS, I was finally able to make it through Shaheed Sukhdev College of Business Studies where I was an Institute ranker and also was the Vice president of the corporate society. In hindsight, as I write this answer from the chair of my exchange school in Lille, France, and being an internship offer holder from HUL and a PPO holder from Kearney after having interned there, all of this struggle shaped me better
When was the last time someone relied on you? OR What did you do which was purely for someone else - a truly selfless act.
A girl from the junior batch in the school lost her father at the age of 13. Being the eldest child in the house, it became both a duty and an ambition for her to get the best out of the opportunities she had. Being her neighbour and finding her struggle to find opportunities for herself in the small town was relatable. I felt it was my responsibility to help her to the best of my capacity. I helped her decide the possible options she had, helped her with any problem that she faced in academics, and provided her with emotional support. Finally, due to her hard work, she secured admission in the top 5 colleges at Delhi University for - I was really proud to accompany her to the admission process and sign as her guardian. The beauty of the whole process is that I learned the value of persistence, even in the adverse of times. It helped me evolve as a person.
Tell us about a time when you disagreed with an opinion/idea/decision. What did you do about it?
It was during the summer placement at IIM Calcutta - that I got an offer for a Sales & Marketing internship with HUL (semifinalist in the International HUL FinAce competition) along with that I had a dream option to exercise on my internship with AT Kearney in a consulting role. A choice had to be made. The choice here boiled down to either a career in Marketing or a career in consulting. After, a lot of deliberation and discussion people suggested going for marketing just because I could avoid stress to prepare further for Kearney, they were also of the view that marketing had less working hours. However, being a fresher and it being my early professional career years I wanted to make the most of it. The goal was to learn so that it could shape me better for my future endeavours. I was of the view to work hard and learn to the best of my capacity. I didn't want to stall my growth of base my decision in the early years just on the ground of less or more working hours
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 which has led you to do deep work in that field?
It was during class fifth that I discovered my interest in Arts & crafts. I had casually along with some of my friends went to a family friend to learn drawing. He asked us to copy him and in the process, out of all of us, I made the best drawing. That's when I started, and post that date to this date I have never had a formal training in the field but years of practice and passion has led me to try my hands at pencil sketching, murals, water colour painting, acrylic painting and other crafts. I also collaborated with the Govt. of Delhi to design murals for an Anganbadi with the object of making learning fun for the students Further I keep on constantly experimenting, recently I undertook a two day project to revamp a old 6ft Godrej Almirah by painting a Buddha on the same.
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 like to invest the 10 million dollars in the following ways
1. Awareness campaign and free Medical Care on PCOD: This subject is rely close to my heart. As, I often feel helpless about what to really do to improve the symptoms. Doctors generally prescribe contraceptive pills which has a worse side effect. And what exactly entails a lifestyle change is also not well documented
2. Import-export of Indian Handicrafts and other products by collaborating with the women in small towns and cities
3. Education: Contributing to developing a quality school in Bhucho Mandi - the town I belong to. It really pains me to see that up till now there is no quality education institution in the town leave away the presence of an English medium school in the town
4. Invest in different asset classes - 40% - 30% as long term equity with consistent dividends/returns and 10% in riskier assets classes - this will help me draw out a monthly salary of the same volume as I would working in the private sector in the long term.
Read the stories of the other Employable Graduates here!