Mystory@Shubhadeep Basak: Learnings from my college journey

Mystory@Shubhadeep Basak

I will not start my story by giving a description of the challenges that I faced. Instead, I will try to focus on the learnings that happened. I would be throwing light on my journey of engineering and management course.

I am a Gold Medalist of my Electrical Engineering batch. I was lucky enough to shoulder three responsibilities during my engineering course – Class Representative, Dept. Student Chairman of ISTE and Convenor of Sugam Sangeet committee. All three responsibilities demanded different types of skillsets. But a common thread in all of them was management. I took my baby steps in negotiation while dealing with various parties during my Sugam Sangeet event. I tried to be an efficient conduit of information exchange between faculties and students while handling my Class Representative duties. And I learned to organise events within a very limited budget as a departmental Student Chairman of ISTE. I was an introvert and studious guy. I came out of my shell during my engineering course. And these important positions helped me gain the required confidence to interact with people.

Another challenging phase of my life was during the preparation phase of my MBA entrance exams. I had enrolled at TIME, Hyderabad. I got through in a reasonably good institute after that. However, I felt there was something lacking in the environment. The intellectual stimulation was not up to the level that I expected. Finally, I decided to give another attempt to MBA entrance exams. This time, I prepared on my own and joined CL for GDPI-WAT training. And luck smiled on me as I entered into the hallowed portals of IIM Indore, Mumbai campus. Both these experiences – coaching and self-preparation had different learnings for me. Through coaching, I found a direction to my study plan. I got a sense of what is to be done, how mocks need to be analysed, how a GD needs to be approached and how a WAT should be structured. The next time when I was doing self-preparation, these learnings came in handy as I could finish the portion on my own with practice.

My current campus life at IIM Indore Mumbai campus is another learning phase for me. The diversity of my batch is a fact I really like. Several interactions with gamers, quizzers, economists, palmists, finance gods etc. are experiences to remember. The quote by William Ellery Channing, “Every man is a volume if you know how to read him,” now holds true for me. And I believe there is more to learn from the various assignments I do, the books that I read, the short-term projects I undertake and the competitions that I participate in.

To sum it up, it has been a good journey so far. I personally believe in putting incremental efforts rather than putting efforts by getting emotionally charged. And in the end, I believe I am my greatest competitor. The days in which I feel I have beaten my previous self, I feel satisfied to run another mile.

About the Author:

I am a PGP participant at IIM Indore Mumbai campus. I always believe in continuous learning. I socialise as well as introspect. I enjoy life as it comes and believe in learning for the pleasure of learning. I have learnt Hindustani Classical Music (vocal and harmonium) for 10 years and have performed at numerous occasions.