Tejashree Murugan from the Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad is one of India's Most Promising Incoming MBA Students 2022!
The following is Tejashree Murugane'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, Tejashree Murugan's story and profile stood out. Here's her story in her words.
I am Tejashree Murugan, a recent graduate of the dual degree (B.Tech & M.Tech) program in Biological Engineering at IIT Madras, and an upcoming MBA fresher at IIM Ahmedabad. I am a development and public policy enthusiast, biotechnologist, youth advocate, and writer, who is passionate about achieving gender equality through education reform.My past experiences include fellowships with YLACs Policy in Action program, the United Nations Academic Impact, and Students for Libertys Fellowship for Freedom. I am also the Community Manager for India Biotech Leaders of Tomorrow, and have interned at organisations such as TCS Innovation Labs, the Murugappa Group, and Biomimicry Compass.
Tell us more about your extracurricular achievements
During my school years, I was the Head Girl, Science Club Secretary, and Language Club Secretary in different years of the Student Council. I won the Outstanding Student Award and the Best Writer Award, as well as prizes for Debate, Oration, Quizzing, Art, and Creative Writing. In my first year at IIT Madras, I worked at the Centre for Innovation on campus and qualified an Asia Book of Records record-making attempt for fabricating the most number of smartphone-controlled floor cleaning robots. This initiative was aimed at promoting Swachh Bharat Abhiyan (Clean India Initiative) and was featured in the Times of India and the Deccan Herald. I also played the lead role of Frances in a production of the play Five Women Wearing the Same Dress by Alan Ball, which took place at Chettinad Hari Shree Vidyalayam in 2018. The play was organised by the professional theatre institution Crea-Shakthi and the Drama Club of IIT Madras and received national media attention from The New Indian Express.In 2021, I was selected to be a fellow (Top 60 in India) in the Policy in Action Program of Young Leaders for Active Citizenship (YLAC), a highly selective engagement designed to deliver core skills in policy analysis, advocacy and leadership, along with the experience of working on live projects for policymakers. As a part of the program, I worked on a project for Mr Derek OBrien (Member of Parliament, Rajya Sabha) titled Development of railways in the last decade, with a special focus on the state of West Bengal.An avid creative, I have published my fiction, poetry, and artwork in renowned magazines all across the world, such as the University of Torontos in:cite journal, The Wire, and Ethel Zine (a limited-edition journal featured in Harvards Schlesinger Library). As a Freedom Fellow at Students for Liberty, I have published op-eds in some national and international publications such as the Hindustan Times, ThePrint, CNN-News18, The Daily Star (the largest English daily in Bangladesh), The Straits Times (a Singaporean daily), and The Womb (India's first digital newspaper for Women & Gender issues). In fact, I won first place in ThePrint's Campus Voice competition and was recognized by Shekhar Gupta (Founder and Editor-in-Chief, ThePrint). I regularly interview people for various publications and podcasts, including Alana Karen (Director at Google and the author of Adventures of Women in Tech: How We Got Here and Why We Stay), Srikant Sastri (Chairman of i3g Advisory Network, Co-Founder of Crayon Data, and Co-Lead for the IIT Kanpur Ventilator Consortium), Noor Unnahar (poet and visual artist), Mallika Chandaria (CEO and Artistic Director of The 98 Arts Collective, NYC), Suneha Jagannathan (an independent marine biologist and research affiliate at the Dakshin Foundation), and numerous CEOs of biotech startups. I also presented the novel I am working on to a panel consisting of prominent leaders in the Indian literary space such as Ravinder Singh (author of I Too Had a Love Story and Can Love Happen Twice?), Srishti Chaudhary (author of Lallan Sweets and Once Upon A Curfew), and Trisha De Niyogi (Director and COO of Niyogi Books), in the form of performance poetry and won 3rd place.I had three PoRs during my time at IIT Madras. I was first a Publicity Coordinator and then the Media Strategist at Shaastra, IITMs annual sci-tech festival and the first such event in the world to be ISO 9001:2015 certified. As the Media Strategist, I supervised a two-tiered team of 10 to organise press conferences, facilitate the publishing of 100+ articles in leading Indian newspapers, and achieve exceptional coverage on television news. I also conducted a pan-India science conference called Spark to reach out to schools across the country, which saw a participation of over 3000 students. My third PoR was when I was the Super Coordinator of the Forensics event at Biofest, the annual technical festival of the biotechnology department at IIT Madras. I directed a team of 4 to conduct workshops on Forensics for 300+ participants (the highest ever of all the Biofest 19 events) and introduced a partnership with Cambrionics Life Science to conduct real crime scene investigation competitions. In addition to these institute PoRs, I am also the Community Manager at India Biotech Leaders of Tomorrow (IBLoT), a non-profit initiative aiming to foster a community of biotech leaders and accelerate the growth of the Indian bioeconomy. I organise and host informative events, such as an AMA with Mr Srikant Sastri, a panel discussion on Women in Biotech Business, and a panel discussion on Demystifying the PhD Application Process. I am also working on a podcast interviewing CXOs, researchers, and other leaders in the biotech industry, tentatively titled Biotech Yatra. It was the first time I had a taste of serious responsibility, and with the onset of the pandemic and all its associated free time, my sense of social responsibility, hitherto a tad dormant, also waxed greatly. I started with a small initiative, tutoring students at an orphanage-run school for the organisations Teach to Learn and Acheve Foundation USA, which taught me valuable lessons about the Indian education system and the lives of those less privileged than me. A course I chanced upon at college introduced me to the concept of biomimicry, and for my capstone project, I redesigned a sanitary pad inspired by how nature cleans its surroundings. My professors were impressed with my idea and interest in biomimicry, leading to an internship offer at their start-up, Biomimicry Compass, where I now work on developing a comprehensive curriculum and a comic book to teach biomimicry in schools. My professors and seniors also encouraged me to apply to the UN Millennium Fellowship last year, which I then used to work with other students to develop my sanitary pad prototype further and run a campaign impacting young schoolgirls. My efforts were rewarded both by the feedback I received and by Talerang (an organisation that originated in Harvard Business School), who included me in their 25 Under 25 list for my literary and social impact contributions. To further my interest in entrepreneurship and understand it from an international perspective, I attended a few conferences. During my school years, I attended and presented at the Youth Conference 14 on Changing Weather Patterns and Sustainability at Doon School, Dehradun. More recently, I was one among the 30 International Student Delegates chosen from top universities across the globe to attend ASES Summit, a premier conference on global entrepreneurship held at Stanford University, where I designed and created a pitch deck for a productivity app which I then presented to prominent venture capitalists from the Bay Area. I was selected as a Delegate at the fully-funded Design Nation Conference, organized by Princeton Universitys Business Today with the aim of empowering the next generation of creative talent. The event comprised of keynote lectures, workshops, and executive seminars with creative leaders from companies such as Instagram, LinkedIn, Facebook Messenger, Google Creative Lab, Depop, Pentagram, Magnopus, and Gensler. Finally, I also represented India as one of the 50 Young Entrepreneur Delegates at the India and China Entrepreneurship Summit organised by the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO), with the aim of laying the foundation of a robust partnership between aspiring entrepreneurs on both sides, as well as players active in the startup ecosystem of both countries.
Tell us about a time when you messed up, and what you learnt from the experience?
In 12th standard, I wrote the two-tiered JEE entrance exams. The first one, JEE Mains, did not go very well for me, and I was pretty disappointed when I got my results. My parents were very supportive and kept telling me it was alright, but I still felt like I had something to prove. I carefully analysed my performance to figure out where I went wrong and spent the entire month leading up to JEE Advanced working really hard to improve upon my weak areas. Finally, the exam day arrived, and not only did I exceed my expectations with my performance, but I also got an admission offer at IIT Madras, my target college. This experience strengthened my resilience, and I learned to not succumb to my mistakes, but rather to work hard and rise above them.
Tell us something about yourself that others may be surprised to know about you.
I have always enjoyed writing, even from a young age. In fact, I distinctly remember my fourth-grade teacher telling me I had talent and that I was going to be a writer someday! It definitely is one of my passions, and during the pandemic, I finally got the courage to send a few of my poems and articles out to publications. Some of them even ended up being published in prestigious places, which was really exciting.
What have been your two biggest successes in life? What did you learn from them?
I would say both my entering IIT Madras and IIM Ahmedabad are two of my biggest successes. Although I have accomplished other things throughout the course of my higher education, these institutes have been the gateway to those experiences, and have transformed who I am as a person. Entering such prestigious institutions has given me a lot of self-confidence and a safety net to fall back on as I go out and try new things. Being among such a talented peer group has also given me an opportunity to learn from other people and changed my perception of the world. My time at IIT Madras, in particular, taught me humility and to not have preconceived notions about anyone or anything.
Professionally, what is your ideal image of yourself five years from now? Where do you see yourself?
Whatever I end up pursuing after graduation, I see myself in a position where I create value for other people and contribute to making the world a better place. I would also like to travel more and learn about different cultures, and perhaps even author my own novel. The world is enormous and full of possibilities, and I am extremely excited to figure out what's in store for me!
What is the one skill or characteristic you possess that you are most proud of, and why?
I do not know if this qualifies as a skill, but I am most proud of my courage, and the way I use it to unlock opportunities. Change is difficult, and always resisted by the people who benefit from the existing situation, but the courage to know that I am on the right path and that I can stand up to whoever stands in my way is what keeps me going. At the same time, I realise that it is important to be diplomatic. I consider myself a pragmatist, not an idealist. Anyone can come up with ideas, but it takes a certain mental fortitude and single-minded determination to bring these ideas to life. Being systematic, planning strategically, and always being a few steps ahead are all necessary skills I believe I have. I am also proud of my ability to network with people who can help significantly with implementing these ideas. Interacting with other leaders, as well as learning from their experiences and incorporating their suggestions, helps refine my plans and make them even better. Ultimately, I am constantly aware of the privileges I have, and I want to improve myself to leverage this privilege into actionable change. This empathy is the characteristic I am most proud of.
In your opinion, what skills or qualities does a successful manager possess?
I strongly believe that a successful manager is one who values inclusive leadership. The ability to identify a person's strengths and have them work on projects they are genuinely interested in, is very important. This effectively results in immense productivity. It is also vital to be a good listener, and show interest in other people. Everyone has something to contribute, and the most brilliant ideas can come from the most unexpected sources. Everyone has a different style of working - some people like to do their own thing, some people need to be closely monitored. Through my own leadership experiences, I have come to understand that it is important to work with a diverse group of people, without enforcing the same expectations on all of them blindly. I want to give people room to grow, take initiative, and achieve great things, under my guidance.
Tell us about an ethical dilemma that you may have faced, and how you resolved it.
During high school, I was faced with a lot of pressure to indulge in copying in exams. I could have either agreed to cheat and gained wider acceptance among my peers, or refuse to do so and stand up for myself. I chose the latter, and this has been one of the most defining experiences of my life because it was the moment I decided I would never compromise on my integrity, no matter what difficult situations I found myself in.
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?
Something that has changed irrevocably, due to Covid-19, is the world of luxury fashion. Fashion shows and other events have had to be cancelled, and brands have come up with interesting and innovative ways to make the shift to digital events more exciting. Technology and fashion have come together to offer viewers the opportunity to have interactive experiences through virtual reality. Such changes gave democratised couture fashion, and have made these brands more inclusive, while still retaining that elusive exclusivity that makes luxury fashion seem desirable. Designers such as Angel Chen, and the brand HELIOT EMIL, have already embraced the use of VR in their shows. The idea is to transport the viewers into the show, and allow them to have their own autonomous experience. If I were the CEO of any company, I would choose the brand Gucci, and my first action would be to open a digital store in the Metaverse with exclusive, digital-only clothes and accessories to cash in on this rising trend. I would also attempt to collaborate with tech companies to take this even further and use Augmented Reality to help people take images in clothes that they dont actually physically own. However, on camera, they would be in those clothes or accessories and would be able to share those images on their social media as well, which would drive up a lot of publicity for the brand.
Any Other Comments Or Factors You Would Like To Highlight About Yourself?
I like learning languages, and am currently studying Chinese and Korean.