Being a minority is always scary. It becomes a nightmare when you have completed 12 years in an all girl’s convent school and land up in a college where there are only four girls among 72 boys. Such was the gender diversity in my under-graduation college where I was studying to become a power engineer.
I had always struggled with the engineering course but somehow achieved third rank in my batch. During my final year, I landed a job at TATA Power, India’s largest integrated power company. The power industry has always been a male dominated sector where female employees are considered more of a liability. During my first year, I was rated highest in my performance appraisal among a GET batch of 40 odd engineers hand-picked from across the country.
I was then posted in Jajpur, a small town in Odisha where I was working in the Operations department of a captive power unit. I was among the only four female engineers who were a part of any plant operations department across the organization.
I always wanted to pursue a management degree, but the nearest coaching centre was more than 100 kms away. I studied for two years and finally cracked both GMAT and CAT. I had applied to more than thirty colleges in both India and abroad. After a slew of interviews and multiple conversions, finally decided to join TAPMI. Adjusting to a college life took some time and effort after four years of professional life. But this institute and the people here have made each day memorable.
I believe that what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger. Although I have been blessed with a supportive family, I have always taken my own decisions and have stuck by them. To me life is all about learning from the past and seizing the present.
