As Shakespeare had said “Life is a Stage”, for me that stage/ backdrop of our lives is architecture. I was fascinated with the idea of designing and playing a small role in the life story of individuals. I was thrilled when I got admission to the School of Planning and Architecture (SPA), Delhi. During the course, I learned a lot more than just design. I learned how to deal with pressure, how to handle criticism in a constructive way, how to manage deadlines, and even how to survive on less sleep! But above all this, the most important thing I learned was how to defend your ideas, and how to make your own unique idea functional and cohesive.
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Post completion of my BArch degree, I gained experience as an architect, an architectural journalist, and a graphic designer. All these fields, though design-centric, were very varied and enhanced my knowledge about working in different departments within the broad field of Architecture. During my tenure at my current company, I was involved in a few projects where there was a direct correlation between design and business. During this course, my passion for understanding business beyond design evolved and I decided to appear for CAT. I realized that as an architect and designer, I already have the ability to think critically and research the product and idea. What I need to learn is how to analyze market trends and understand how numbers and investments work. For me, an MBA was like a catalyst for changing my career and learning how to merge business and design.
Armed with this thought I decided to appear in CAT 2022. I started preparing in August, but due to the nature of my work, I was not able to study consistently. I clearly remember that on the day of Diwali I realized that I have just a little over a month to go. And if I have any chance of cracking CAT I have to give in 100%. Since there was barely anytime left I decided to break down the syllabus into doable portions. In my head, I was clear that I would attempt only a select few topics that were appearing in most previous years' papers. I was working on the understanding that I don't need a 99+ percentile, but definitely needed to be in the 95+ bracket. I worked backward from there like, how many marks do I need to achieve that percentile?
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For VARC, I was fairly confident as I have been an avid reader since 5th standard. DILR I made sure I practiced each type of set at least once to get a feel of how to go about it. And for QUANTS, I broke it down into 12 types of questions so that I can attempt at least 10 in that section. Even after coming up with this plan, it was extremely hectic to manage work. I used to wake up at 4 and study before going to work. In the end, I took 2 weeks off to focus purely on studying.
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On D-Day, I was really nervous. I had gotten the first slot. I still remember that in the DILR section 15 mins went by and I was still stuck on the first set! I had completely freaked out and thought that now this exam is gone from my hands. Somehow I convinced myself to keep trying to calm down and carry on. I was not at all satisfied with my performance after the paper. I was genuinely surprised when the result came out and I had managed to score a 96.02 percentile! The very next day I started preparing for interviews.
It was a task learning to develop a habit of reading the newspaper. My father was my support system during interview prep. He made sure that I was up to date about all current affairs and would quiz me all the time. I had gotten calls from IIM K, I, S, Rohtak, IIM CAP, IIT Delhi, IIT Bombay, SPJIMR, and IMT Ghaziabad. The months Jan, Feb, and March went by in a frenzy of interviews! I still remember my IIM Indore interview very clearly. It was an interview where I fumbled and got stuck. So, in my interview, I was asked, ‘ You are an architect, how would you measure the height of Mount Everest’. I came up with a couple of answers, but it was not what they wanted so they kept pushing me. I walked out of the room feeling very dejected that it could not have gone worse.
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When the results started coming out, it was so much better than what I expected. Other than IIM K, I was sent an offer letter for all colleges! I was ecstatic and in disbelief. Sometimes looking at how far I have come, I still am in disbelief about how I got here. It is a surreal feeling each time you get an offer letter and a shortlist! After a lot of deliberation, I decided to go ahead with IIM I as I felt like the college best aligned with what I want out of the course.
I know that this is not the end of the road, but the beginning of a beautiful journey. I look forward to learning and growing in this new chapter of my life.
