Meet the MBAEx Class of 2023: Tejaswi Abburi, Indian Institute of Management Calcutta

Tejaswi Abburi

Indian Institute of Management, Calcutta

“A music enthusiast and a passionate cook; who endeavors to maintain composure, humility, and grit.”

Hometown: Visakhapatnam, Andhra Pradesh, India

Fun Fact About Yourself: I am a singer trained in Indian Classical music. If not for engineering or management, I would have pursued this field and strived to become a professional musician. I have delivered concerts at city-level events and am still passionate about pursuing music composition in the near future.

Undergraduate School and Major: Masters of Technology in Chemical Engineering from the Indian Institute of Technology, Madras

Most Recent Employer and Job Title: Atomic Energy Regulatory Board as Safety Analyst.

Aside from your classmates, what was the key part of IIM Calcutta’s MBA programming that led you to choose this business school and why was it so important to you? IIM, Calcutta’s one-year MBAEx course is a curriculum-heavy, rigorous, and demanding program. Unlike the two-year courses, the course curriculum is compressed into 6–7 weeks terms. The differentiating factor from other Indian management schools of the same tier is an additional sixth term which increases the contact hours per batch. The course assignments and case discussions are demanding and extract every ounce of productivity from the candidates, pushing them to the limit. Every minute spent unplanned is a lost opportunity in a course where terms pass by in a blink.

What has been your favorite course or extracurricular activity at IIM Calcutta? What has been the most important lesson that you have learned from it? By far, the most exciting course has been managerial communication. Before the first class, I thought it would be another writing course, communicating and presenting effectively. Interestingly, it was more of a market research course, introducing us to concepts such as McGuffin, Chekhov’s Gun, Lacanian Psychoanalysis, and Source Code Analysis. The objective was to find underlying patterns in good stories and use them to create a compelling future strategy.

What has been the best part of studying business in Calcutta? The professors are the ‘coolest’ among the graduate schools I have seen. The accessibility of professors and their energy is admirable, given the volume of course schedules they handle across the dozens of programs running in tandem. Both inside and outside the class, they demonstrate a keen interest in interacting with students and a particular interest in discussing industry experiences. How they maintain a constant learning flux is purely magical to experience. I’m yet to walk out of a class disappointed.

Describe your biggest accomplishment in your career so far: The most significant accomplishment was challenging myself out of my comfort zone and moving away from a government organization specializing in emerging energies. I was previously employed with a nuclear regulator, which ensures the safe operation of commercial nuclear power plants. In a country where a government job is synonymous with being ‘settled’, the internal and external resistance to emerge from the status quo was immense. However, after much deliberation with alumni of the school who made extraordinary transitions, I was convinced that this is the ideal platform to help my transition into management roles. Now, I know that this is the best decision of my professional life.

Describe your biggest accomplishment as an MBA student so far: Being part of the social networking committee, we had the idea to conduct individual interactions with the Chairperson of the program. It is a massive exercise to schedule, interview, record, and process the insights of 78 students, within the already crunched academic timelines. I am proud to be part of the group which handles the whole process in-house and features the content on the institute’s social networking handles.

What led you to pursue an MBA at this point and what do you hope to do after graduation? Having worked in the energy industry as an analyst for almost a decade, I wanted to transition into management roles. To achieve this, I needed a course that lays foundations across subjects, introduces strategic decision-making, and hones analytical thinking to complement the industry expertise. I intend to enter the consulting industry in energy transition strategy. This is a promising growth field and provides immense job satisfaction to strategize clean energy transitions in an energy-intensive country such as India.

What advice would you give to help potential applicants gain admission into IIM Calcutta? I suggest being true to themselves and making a well-thought decision beforehand. This will help provide clarity of thought in the interviews. Also, I recommend people display any extracurricular interests in the admission application and statement of purpose, as they form an essential part of the selection process. Most information can be obtained by reaching out through the social media channels of the institute.

DON’T MISS: MEET THE INDIAN INSTITUTE OF MANAGEMENT CALCUTTA MBA CLASS OF 2023

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