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, Praful Shirsath, has shown an incredible amount of passion to achieve his true potential. Read on and find out his story!
The following are Praful Shirsath’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, Praful's story and profile stood out. Here's his story in his 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.
By the end of February 2021, it became clear to me that I had not received interview calls from 7 out of the 8 B-Schools which I had shortlisted for my MBA journey. The only B-School left from my list was JBIMS Mumbai, and the MBA CET exam for admission to the institute was yet to be conducted. The MBA CET is usually conducted in March, but in February of 2021, even the notification of the exam was not out. I was in my final year at IISER Pune, where my 10-month-long master's thesis project was in progress. We were supposed to submit the first draft by mid-May and finalize it by the end of June. All my attention was divided between these two very different tasks. So, at the beginning of March, I divided my thesis into eight sections and gave myself deadlines for each section. Along with this, I was also preparing and learning new topics for the MBA CET examination. It was a difficult task to do my research work and write the draft for almost 89 hours daily and then study for CET, but I pushed myself by saying that this is the last college and last chance you have. Because of this planning, I not only finished my first draft before the given deadline, but I wrote such a draft that I had very minimal to no changes needed to convert it into my final draft. After I finished my thesis, I had full time to concentrate on my MBA CET exam. So, while my friends were celebrating the submission of their master's thesis and the completion of a 5-year BSMS journey at IISER Pune, I was in the library from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. and then in my hostel room solving mocks, analyzing them, and practicing as many questions as possible. Finally, I was able to crack the examination with a score of 99.766 percentile and convert to the only remaining college on my list, JBIMS Mumbai. Had I not worked hard and burned the midnight oil back then, I would not have been in the place I am today. I feel that because of the constant efforts, things panned out in a better way. This also boosted my confidence and made me realize that nothing is impossible if you are ready to put in the work.
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 feel there are many instances where I encourage, support, and push people toward their goals. One of the recent examples is of a friend I met online in one of the telegram groups in preparation for the MBA CET. In 2021, we started preparing together by solving the same mocks daily, analyzing them, and then discussing what went wrong and what could be a different and better approach to solving any particular questions. We both had high scoring marks according to our goals, but he was not able to perform to his full potential on the final day. He was very stressed since he had quit his job to prepare. I talked to him and encouraged him to prepare again for other exams and also for the next attempt at the MBA CET. I was in regular touch with him, getting updates about his preparations, his mock scores, and his strategy, and we also discussed where he needed improvement. Finally, he was able to crack both the CAT as well as the MBA CET with decent scores and will be joining his dream college in a couple of weeks. I have never met him in person, but I was just happy that I was able to help him reach his goal and progress in his career.
Tell us about a time when you disagreed with an opinion/idea/decision. What did you do about it?
In my third year at my undergraduate college, IISER Pune, I was the coordinator for the sponsorship department. I had one more co-coordinator with me from my batch, whom I wasnt fond of working with because of this attitude toward any task. We had our opinions clash in the past, and hence I wasnt looking forward to working with him. We had to work from scratch, from finding new sponsors to pitching them the deal and converting the final deal to get the sponsorship money. So, in the beginning, we divided the old sponsors amongst ourselves to contact and then find new ones on our own. But after some time, when there were a couple of weeks left for the annual fest, I got to know that he not only hadn't found any new sponsors but also hadnt contacted all the old ones which he was supposed to. After a long discussion with him, I understood that he was not interested in working and contacting the sponsors and was just complaining about how long the process was. After the discussion, we decided that he would manage whatever sponsorship we have already received by sending receipts to the sponsors and enquiring if they have received them. And so, in the final week, I was running behind the old sponsors assigned to him to get the cheques, and I also got a new sponsor to contribute a large amount on the first day of the fest.
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 feel there are a few things that I am passionate about and have been practicing for a long time, which I could call being at some level of expertise. I have been roller skating since I was in 3rd grade, and have skated to the national level twice. I have always found skating fun and this has also made me try new forms like roller hockey, roller ball, and also skateboarding. I skated professionally until I was in 10th grade, but after that, I also practiced regularly, refining my skills. I am always up for a heat on the rink and even a marathon on the road. When I was 13, I discovered video editing and have been very interested in learning it ever since. I started by watching tutorials on YouTube itself and then started shooting and editing practice videos and putting them on YouTube. This also inspired me to make videos of my own and I have a few of my travel vlogs uploaded on my channel that go by my name. I have also been part of projects where I have shot and edited a few short films at my undergraduate college which have been presented at national-level film festivals and have also won awards. Once I started shooting and observing faces while editing, I understood how much of a story one can depict just by facial expressions, and hence, I started portrait photography shortly after that. I have been doing portrait photography, especially street portrait photography, for more than five years now, and a few of my photos were also framed and displayed at a photography festival. I believe constant practice and maintaining discipline towards these interests have made me some sort of expert in them.
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?
10 million dollars, or INR 73.5 crore, is a huge amount. Someone would surely feel powerful having it, and, as they say, with great power comes great responsibility. If I receive this amount of money without doing anything, I will make sure to invest it in a way that more people benefit from it. There are two main parts. I will use this money for investing and pledging toward various goals. First of all, I will donate INR 5 crore to my school to upgrade its sports infrastructure. I come from a school where the majority of the students excel in academics, but very few excel in sports because we dont have enough space to practice. Hence, hopefully, this donation will help aspiring sportspeople. I will donate INR 15 crores to my college, the Indian Institute of Science Education and Research (IISER) Pune. Since its a research institute, any funding to the institute in monetary form is always going to be helpful to fund any upcoming project. I would also pledge some part of this for students who secure international projects at world-renowned institutes but are unable to carry out research work there because of funding issues. Being from a family where education has always been the most important aspect, myself pursuing my third degree, I feel everyone should have access to education, and hence I will donate INR 10 crore to any such non-profit organization that works towards educating the weaker sections of society. From the remaining INR 43.5 crore, I will give 10 crores to my parents and my sister, which they can use as their retirement fund or for higher education of my sister. I will invest INR 30 crore in various ways. I will invest INR 10 crore in start-ups that I feel are working towards the betterment of society with their products and in a sustainable manner. These are start-ups working towards the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) set up by the United Nations. I will invest the remaining INR 20 crore in equity, commodities, money, and real estate markets for the future. Being an avid backpacker and explorer, I will use the remaining INR 3.5 crore to travel across the world. This is how I will use this enormous corpus of 10 million dollars or INR 73.5 crore.
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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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