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, Soham Chaudhuri, has shown an incredible amount of passion to achieve his true potential. Read on and find out his story!
The following are Soham Chaudhuri’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, Soham'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.
One thing that I have always believed in my life is the famous quote by Winston Churchill - "Attitude is a little thing that makes a big difference. It was a cool autumn morning as three other colleagues and I entered the main gate of the Jhagadia Saint Gobain Plant plant. We had finished our two-month induction and orientation at the Saint Gobain World Glass Complex in Chennai, and we were super excited about our first projects. We were warmly welcomed by the HRs and other senior management trainees, the workplace seemed so much fun with healthy banter, people joking, and the canteen food was terrific. The entire plant of 200 odd employees seemed like a tight-knit family, and as we walked into Plant Head's office for introductions and to receive our projects, we were brimming with excitement. The Plant Head introduced me to my mentor and gave me the project file and description. A yield improvement project for the Sand Beneficiation Plant there. A persistent problem, and though the situation seemed challenging, I was optimistic that by the end of 2 months, I would be able to present a solution. I walked back with my mentor to the sand plant after collecting the necessary PPEs. My mentor walked me through the plant, showing me around the various operations of the sand plant and the machinery involved. Then he took me to his cabin, sat with me, and gave me the stern warning that would be the beginning of all my troubles. He said, and I quote, "Don't do any changes, don't experiment, I don't want you to implement anything new, do your study, stay out of my way, spend your two months and go." One more management trainee had been assigned a similar project at the sand plant under him the previous year. He made some changes in the process and equipment, which seemed to have caused improvements but were later revealed to have caused unintentional losses worth a great deal of money. To make matters worse, the loss wasn't identified until several months later. I was at my wit's end, literally. For 15 days, I walked around the sandy, muddy, dirty sand plant, coating the bottom of my shoes with mud. I talked to the entire sand plant team, searching for ideas, and did tests for product losses, which essentially meant washing and sifting lots of clay. I went online, read scores of articles and research papers, and even asked some subject matter experts by searching LinkedIn and my college professors. However, nothing was fruitful as all my ideas were shot down one after the other by my mentor, who wanted no change. I had spent a quarter of my allotted project time, and I had nothing to show for it. I thought about giving up, asking for a project change, complaining about my mentor to HR, but my heart wanted to fight. I wanted to find a solution that is suitable for everyone. A good explanation and ultimately a successful project would not only have given a good boost to my career with Saint Gobain, but it would also have helped me stand out during my MBA interviews later. In desperation, I started asking the contractual daily-wage labourers working in the sand plant. This was when I met Dinesh Ji; he took me and asked me to come with him to the sand loading yard.Poor Dinesh Ji was overworked and in great distress, and no one listened to his complaints. He opened the back body of a truck, waiting to unload the unprocessed raw sand it bought from the mines. He dug his hand in and clawed and showed me this, the raw sand, literally caked due to the high-water content. He went on ranting about how the landing area is always watery due to this, giving him an extra task of cleaning the site and how sample collection is more challenging due to the caked sand. I asked him, "Isn't the sand supposed to come at specified moisture?" He ranted that the trucks always came with higher water content since the suppliers asked the drivers at the mine to add water to the sand and increase weight. In consequence, they got more money from us. He also said that he collects samples from the top of the truck now since the water settles down at the bottom during the journey, leaving the top drier. This got me thinking, and the next ten days went in a whirlwind. I pulled down the data for the last two years and did a material balance between input and output, accounting for all known losses. There was a big gap no one was looking at and one that could only be explained by high moisture and incorrect input moisture reporting. We were losing yield because we were calculating it using the wrong numbers! and our suppliers were cheating us. I booked my tickets to go to the sand mines located in Bhuj, went over there, contacted our resident geologist staying there, and got to the crux of the problem. I had to push myself, wait till late at night in the sand yards collecting samples, travel with the truck drivers to the sand mines, spend a lot of time speaking and travelling in harsh conditions. It was physically arduous, taxing and I got dirty very often. It was something that I was not used to or even hoped to do ever when I was recruited as a management trainee. But, in the end, it was fruitful, and I was successful. I implemented several strict measures down there, giving a stern warning to our suppliers. I came back and started working on designing a tool to improve our sample collection methods. In two days, I had the device ready and successfully trained everyone involved in the process. This is me on the right, collecting my first sample using the tool I designed. At the end of two months, I had one surprised mentor, who wanted all my data, one happy plant head, and most importantly, one happy me, who spent his last few days at Jhagadia, travelling to places, eating good food, and sleeping peacefully at night.
When was the last time someone relied on you? OR What did you do which was purely for someone else - a truly selfless act.
In my final year at NIT Durgapur, I was the General Secretary and Signatory Post Holder for Aarohan, our official Tech Fest. One of our flagship events was the tech exhibition, which carried the most significant prize and internship opportunities at DRDO. There is a slum right behind our Campus. I have always believed that one of the most important steps an individual can take to help the poor is to provide for their education. I decided to put up a special section for students from that slum at our tech-fest. I discussed this idea with my team, and We stepped in, provided monetary assistance, and helped and taught the students to make science models and exhibit them at our campus fest in front of all our guests. The smiles of those kids as they demonstrated their models in front of eminent professors and the happiness in their eyes truly made my day. The event was not only a success but was also continued for the subsequent editions of the tech-fest.
Tell us about a time when you disagreed with an opinion/idea/decision. What did you do about it?
I learned from my peer interactions during my undergraduate, professional and MBA career that everyone aspires to be a leader. When you put so many ambitious and talented people in one class, section, study group, or team, friction and differences in opinion are bound to happen. While small and big conflicts are part and parcel of life, one incident I remember vividly is during one event at my college. Being a part of a prestigious committee, during my penultimate year, my team and I were given the task of organizing the annual flagship meet of the college. At that time, the senior tea, was on the verge of graduating and had given the entire responsibility to us to see through the event end to end. A substantial part of our budget was unutilized due to the mode of our event, and I proposed the idea of organizing a stand-up comedy and a music performance for our guests. Since I had prior experience of event management, I took up the responsibility of getting quotes and organizing the event. We received quotes that fit well in our budget and got a green light from the seniors and our faculty mentor. However, the senior team came to us and asked us to get inflated bills from the performers to ensure that the entire budget was spent and the extra part could be utilized for parties. This was when I put my foot down; I convinced both the junior and senior team about the risks associated with such an idea and its unethicality. A solid moral code has been imbibed in me by my upbringing. I also have always tried to ensure that my team also never does anything unethical. I always believe that a successful business should never have to achieve profits at the expense of ethics. In the end, everyone agreed, and we presented the proper genuine bills to our college.
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?
My most striking personality trait would probably be the "know it all" vibe I give. So much so that I was nicknamed "Google" in my friend circle in college. It irritates some people; it also appeals to some people. To be honest, I don't try to give off any impressions that I know more than others or know it all. I simply like sharing my knowledge with people, having interesting things to talk about. I don't know many different things, and about a lot, I only have surface-level knowledge. I like learning new things, constantly googling things, and I literally have hundreds of searches every day in my Google history. Talking about first impressions, I have always received mixed feedback; some have appreciated me for my knowledge, some have been irritated for my unsolicited insights, and some have outright tried to shut me down. But, I have seen that this has always helped me gain friends and acquaintances, meet people with similar interests, and stand out from others. My eternal quest for knowledge has helped me in my career; I like to constantly learn, change, and explore new things and fields. I have realised that the best of friends can be made with those who can share your knowledge and exchange ideas and solutions. So my first impression might irritate or appeal to you, rest assured that all that I say comes from a good place, with an intent to exchange ideas and have a meaningful discussion. I hope that this trait will help me in the future too, to network and gain connections in the industry post my MBA as well.I also love reading short stories. It is my favourite genre, and while I like novels too and have read quite a few in my life, short stories appeal to me more than anything. I can proudly say that I have hundreds of fiction books at my home, an entire big shelf dedicated to them. I have many short story collections too, by almost all the famous authors. I have written a few short stories too. I enjoy creative writing; essays and short stories are my favourite. I got my first short story published when I was in class 10. It was the first story I ever wrote and sent, a horror story published in the Halloween short story edition of Times of India. Looking back, it was not probably my best work, but it still makes me feel proud to be one of the 10 stories shortlisted for publication. I have won numerous essay writing competitions in my school life. The best would probably be the WWF Earth Day essay competition, where I won the second prize at the State Level. It was a significant achievement for me, mainly because I wrote an 8-page long essay on water conservation over two days. I have also published articles in my company's monthly newsletter multiple times on various topics.
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?
Entrepreneurship is something that is always at the back of my head as a long-term goal. A significant sum like INR 73.5 crores would really help me fulfil my dreams. I have always admired social entrepreneurs and have wanted to become one. Doing good for society while also making a profit. I have always wanted to venture into the field of education for all and waste management. A good entrepreneur needs a good idea, a willingness to work hard towards its fulfilment, and the knowledge to make it a success. While throughout the course of my MBA, taking part in various B-Plan competitions and assignments, I have explored or researched many business ventures and ideas, a truly million-dollar idea is yet to come within my grasp. So if today, you give me a sum of 10 million dollars, they would be safely invested so that it grows over time, while I toil hard, searching for that idea, and at the same time learning more and more through my work as a consultant.
Read the stories of the other Employable Graduates here!