I Became A Point Of Contact For Medical Emergencies AT IIM K - Murtaza Kapadia's Journey Of Success

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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.

My biggest fear when I entered IIM Kozhikode was public speaking. I would shiver at the thought of going up and speaking. To overcome it, I always volunteered to speak at events. However, I made a fool out of myself on stage during Teacher’s day. I realized I needed serious improvement. With that motivation, I co-founded The IIMK Toastmasters Club, with an initial strength of 35 members, and conducted 20+ sessions in 9 months. Over the journey, I received the Best Speaker Award 3 times, and the Best Table Topic (Extempore) Speaker award 5 times.

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 joined the Emergency Response Team (Trauma Cell) of IIM Kozhikode. It was a volunteer committee of selfless individuals who would get no certificates or official appreciation. After being trained in basic first aid, we became the first point of contact in case of any medical emergencies. I helped countless students either by providing first aid or taking them to the hospital.

Tell us about a time when you disagreed with an opinion/idea/decision. What did you do about it?

A batchmate recently claimed that women have taken this feminism thing too far. I disagreed with him and showed the statistics of how far behind women were in everything, whether its mortality rate, nourishment, jobs, or pay scale. I believe personal opinions are meant only for Facebook. A substantial argument should always be on the basis of facts and figures only.

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?

I did my summer internship at Reckitt Benckiser with the Trade Marketing Team, focusing on the brand Durex. After countless market visits, discussions with my mentor, and hours of benchmarking with the competition, I believe I have some level of expertise in FMCG sales, more specifically, condom sales. I have analyzed the industry in-depth in terms of segmentation-targeting-positioning, consumer behaviour, promotions, in-store activities, go-to-market strategies, supply chain, and overall industry analysis in terms of size, growth, major players, trends and future prospects.

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?

With 75 Crores, I would launch a business of my own in the textile industry. I would refine Indian cotton to give it the highest fiber count, thereby, competing with the best quality cotton from China, Egypt, and Italy. Having a retail family business in textiles would also be useful to create a synergy.