Abir Banerjee

Indian Institute of Management, Bangalore

“A sailor at heart with unconditional love for sports, Indian history, and delicious food.”

Hometown: Calcutta, West Bengal

Brought up in Noida, Uttar Pradesh

Fun Fact About Yourself: At age 13, I was told that I was too skinny and lightweight to play football at any level. By 22, I represented my school, district, and university at various football tournaments across India. By 24, I played 2 full seasons as a professional football player in Delhi’s Top-tier AIFF-affiliated football league.

Undergraduate School and Major: Indian Maritime University, Marine Engineering. (Batch Topper)

Most Recent Employer and Job Title: Qatar Gas, Senior Operations Engineer

Aside from your classmates, what was the key part of IIM Bangalore’s MBA programming that led you to choose this business school and why was it so important to you? For my business degree, I was searching for an ecosystem that is challenging yet inspiring. Talking to alums, browsing GmatClub (addiction warning), and studying the program plan, I was convinced that IIM-Bangalore’s EPGP program is curated to provide a sound foundation for future professional success for someone like me.

Coming from a unique background, my most important goal for the MBA program was to get as much exposure as possible of multi-domain subjects. IIM-B’s extremely diverse set of electives was perhaps the deal clincher for me. A case in point: I am a merchant navy officer learning B2B Marketing in the morning, product strategy in the afternoon, and corporate finance in the evening – all from industry veterans and legendary professors.

Also, I fell in love with the campus when I visited here last year to meet a friend. I am currently in term-4 and the campus still mesmerizes me.

What has been your favorite course or extracurricular activity at IIM Bangalore? What has been the most important lesson that you have learned from it?  It has to be “Macro-Economics” course taught by Professor Chetan Subramanium. His 20 insightful sessions have made me think like a macroeconomist. More specifically, his classes covered different viewpoints regarding classical and Keynesian economics and related these concepts with the current macro events influencing world politics. It changed the way I saw the world.

My biggest skill that I acquired was how to comprehend and relate in depth, editorial articles in The Economics Times with macro-economic concepts.

What makes Bengaluru such a great place to earn your MBA? Bengaluru is arguably the best city to earn an MBA degree. Possibilities such as diverse industry exposure, access to start-up hubs, and networking opportunities within a thriving business ecosystem are just an uber away.

And yes, the year-round weather here makes the entire experience even more memorable.

Describe your biggest accomplishment in your career so far: Into the second year of my job, while I was working for British Petroleum (BP shipping), I was awarded BP’s prestigious “Tallow Chandler’s Award.” I was among the top 5 employees across wider BP group. The award recognizes best young employees for their outstanding performance and contribution in rank. It was surreal to have gotten a chance to receive a gold medal in one of London’s famous public halls in front of my parents. The experience gave me added zeal to work harder and learn more.

Describe your biggest accomplishment as an MBA student so far: Owing to the nature of my job, I am used to high-pressure problem-solving environments (or I thought so). But Term 1 hit me hard –competing in an academic setting with rank holders from top tier colleges such IITs, NITs, BITS (along with balancing family requirements) was one of the most challenging times I have experienced.

My biggest accomplishment as an MBA student is the fact that I was able to manage both relatively well without compromising one over the other. The lessons learnt during this phase will remain with me forever as motivations.

What is your class’s favorite hangout away from school? Why do you gather there? A teashop just adjacent to IIM-B’s south gate.

That is the place where most of batchmates visit after a grueling day of classes. Strategies are formed to navigate the syllabus and predictions are made regarding the questions on the upcoming quizzes. Occasionally, we take out the time to talk about life beyond IIM-B.

The place acts as the perfect location for leisure conversations in this high-paced program.

What do you hope to do after graduation? After sailing the high seas for 8 years, I am looking to make a well-rounded transition into the corporate world. Through the learnings of this program and my rich experience in project management, stakeholder management, engineering, and operations management, I am interested in taking up program management roles in e-commerce companies.

What advice would you give to help potential applicants gain admission into IIM Bangalore? Try to see the big picture. Most of us come from a technical background and have been working in various technical roles. Seldom do we think about the business implications of our job at the company and country level. The ability to understand the bird’s eye view of our respective job domains and its interdependence on other functional domains of the organization will surely give an aspirant a competitive advantage.

DON’T MISS: MEET IIM BANGALORE’S EPGP CLASS OF 2024