Sometimes you need to go out of your comfort zone to experience something completely new. The decision to take that risk is hard. Today, we bring you a story of someone who hails from the capital city - New Delhi. She had an easy and protective upbringing. But she didn't let that comfortable lifestyle get in the way of understanding the harsh realities of the world and take risks to learn new things. This individual's courage and iron-strong will that landed her amongst India's Best-50 Most Employable MBA Graduates!
The following is Tanya Shridhar's set of responses to a questionnaire floated amongst MBA graduates to determine the top-50 most employable MBA graduates of the Class of 2020. Amongst the massive number of entries and responses being evaluated by the Founder of InsideIIM-Kampus Konversations, Tanya Shridhar's story and profile stood out. Here's her story in her words.
"After dedicating 5 years to Architecture and a year to a job with a dual role of an Architect and Business Development Manager for an international firm, I understood the importance of not just creating a good product but marketing it as well for a greater reach and impact. This is why I decided to do an MBA from MICA by specialising in Advertising and Brand Management. Post my internship I received a PPO from Titan. I worked hard during these two years which lead me to perform well in competitions by HUL, Mahindra, Tata Steel and L’Oréal and as hobbies, I play basketball, volleyball, frisbee etc. As a person, I keep thriving to go beyond my comfort zone which leads me to explore different sides of my personality."
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.
"They say ‘The best view comes after the hardest climb’ and I have never believed in anything as much as this quote. It was during a competition called ‘Young Business Leader’ by TAPMI where I went out of my comfort zone. Being in Ahmedabad, the flights to Manipal were long and expensive along with this it was an individual competition. My parents were against the idea of investing so much time, money and effort, especially because I had already received a PPO so there was no need, but I wanted to push myself and learn more about my shortcomings through this 3-day competition. This had rounds ranging from politics, business cases to leadership and stress interviews. For the first time in life, I booked the tickets without informing my parents and later convinced them why it was crucial for me to challenge myself while I was in college. I believed in myself and this resulted in me winning the competition along with a cash prize of Rs. 70,000. The entire 3-days taught me so much about myself and human dynamics, the winning was the cherry-on-top."
When was the last time someone relied on you? OR What did you do which was purely for someone else - a truly selfless act.
"Being born and brought up in Delhi, I was fortunate to lead an easier life but, during ethnographic research for our PG project, we were asked to stay in a village in Rajasthan for a week. During my stay, I involved myself in the day-to-day chores and volunteered for taking Basic English and Dance classes for the students who studied in ‘Hunarshala’. During my stay, I helped me understand the story of the founders of this school. I ensured that the story reaches many people. So I interviewed the founders and helped them with writing an article describing the good they are doing to the people and the village. Along with this, having an architectural degree, the founders asked me to help them with the sewage problem around the school. I, along with my friends from undergraduate, are helping them with the problem."
Tell us about a time when you disagreed with an opinion/idea/decision. What did you do about it?
"During my internship, one of the parts of my project was to find a suitable agency who could do mystery shopping audits for the company’s own stores. The opinion of the seniors was to stick with the agency they had. I analysed the situation and realised that the existing agency was not only charging us more than the industry standard but along with that they were not providing any basis for comparisons as well. So I disagreed with the opinion of the seniors to continue with that agency, I went with thorough research and explained them in detail about the other agency and how we could benefit from it more. They understood and agreed."
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?
"One of the things that I can claim to have some level of expertise in is dancing. From being a trained Bharatanatyam Dancer to performing all but one classical dance form on stage, I have always enjoyed it. Along with classical, I have also performed western dance forms such as Hip Hop, Jazz, Belly Dancing, Bachata etc. I have always tried to promote classical dances and have even performed Bharatanatyam as a part of the Annual Production during post-graduation."
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?
"If this amount is given to me, I would like to use it to educate women of underprivileged society. Along with this make them understand what their fundamental rights are. In my opinion, this will encourage them to fight for themselves. The basic education will eventually make them more aware of their potential and thus, will help them self-sustain and be more independent, both financially as well as emotionally. Schools could be set-up and one batch that graduates can help teach the subsequent ones. This will also help them more in day-t-day work and interactions. Thus leading to lesser misguiding and fraud."
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