It was barely a week I’d joined the Post Graduate Programme at IIMT and all of us, the recently joined fresh batch, is more than excited to attend and witness the tiniest of events conducted here. All of the reputed guests and invited lecturers had been inspiring and motivating the newcomers to get educated, learn, be knowledgeable and spread it among us, maintain composure etc. There were lectures on stress management, general health awareness and whatnot to prepare us for the coming rigour of 2 years.
In all of this, I wasn’t able to connect deeply to the speaker as such. Every one of them was of the likes of either a professor from a reputed institute or a highly posted professional from an MNC. And so, I was curious of how’d our meeting with our Alumni go – that because of the basic nature of understanding between existing students and Alumni.
The session starts – enter 5 alumni from IIMT, visiting their alma mater the first time. Of them one was specifically noticeable – he was walking slowly with some help from the others. Rajiv had passed out of IIMT in March 2018 and placed at the Royal Bank of Scotland, Chennai. He was quite underconfident as he introduced himself, looking down at the floor and talking slowly and intermittently. A while later the whole class was surprised knowing he was visually impaired and lost his sight some ten years ago. While everyone on the podium interacted with the students, answered their queries, and comprehensively guided them through their own experiences at IIMT, I couldn’t stop thinking of Rajiv and just how could he have successfully completed the rigorous two years of his MBA, and later got a job at such a premium firm in Banking?
As he shared his experiences, which were from his past life apart from these two years too, I felt a blood rush. He was the humblest guy sitting in a room full of 250, yet an adrenaline boost for all of them. He told us of the difficulties he’d faced – lost opportunities, challenges, at times lost himself. But he’d found a family at IIMT. His batchmates would help him out through everything unknowingly giving him a moral and mental visual of the world. Now I can see him smile, thus know he’s thinking of his family at IIMT. He gave a different strength to unity and teamwork and more than motivated me to enjoy my two-year course here because this was place to learn. And yes, he told us not to just learn, but first learn to learn.
I could see him as a visionary – but visually impaired. I saw a sincere leader who wouldn’t leave his members behind. And I thought to myself what contribution can I make to this institute or its people? With a great deal of thought, weeks later, I decided to donate my father’s eyes when he passes away. I talked to my father regarding the same and he agreed to the noble cause. All in all, the session was memorable for everyone in the room since we’d witnessed Rajiv’s stubbornness for the first time. Yet it’s past and gone. For me, there’s a purpose in it, particularly a noble one. What I learnt in there from his attitude will surely be useful to build something successful out of me but my memory of this classroom experience still holds a future and will be acted on when the time comes.
Which ABG company would you like to work for and why?
Pantaloons is shiny. But that is for its customers. I regard pantaloons as one of the fastest growing apparel retailers in India, providing people with more than they know. I wonder what it would be like to work in an industry that’s ever-evolving and trending. With an interest and experience in Sales and Marketing, I understand that customer interaction and satisfaction is most prominent. My interest to work with the ABG group around various angles involves a consolidated end to end delivery of fresh inputs and learning of various hands-on experience.
- This article is written by Sanket Dilip Somkuwar- Class of 2020