IIM Bangalore:

I was born and brought up in a small town in Jharkhand by my mother (housewife) and father (working
professional). Adversity struck us when I lost my father at the age of 5. Each day since then was an
endeavor to keep our heads above the water, with bare minimum earnings for sustenance of the entire
family. However, there was no self-pity; there was just an acceptance of the situation we were in, and a
firm determination to make the most of it. I consistently excelled in school, leading to exemption of my
school-fees. I stood 3rd in school in class X and 2nd in class XII. Thereafter, I stood 1st in the entire batch in
my Chemical Engineering undergrad.

Excellence in academics just spilled over to excellence at work at ‘Cairn Oil and Gas’, India’s largest private
crude oil producer. In a record of sorts, I have received five ‘Pat on the back’ awards and one ‘Rising Star’
award, during my five years at Cairn. In one initiative that received lot of commendations, I devised a
pipeline networking model that transmitted live parameters of pipelines (such as pressure, fluid velocity
etc.). This enabled us to make right decisions about most appropriate timing of the costly ‘pigging process’
that is necessary for maintenance of pipelines.

In my last 5+ years in Operations, I have never approached ‘Operations’ as merely ‘maintaining’ the status-
quo of productivity; I have ‘challenged’ the status-quo, improving productivity and other operations
routines. I was appreciated for my idea for enhancing production by 150K barrels/day, equivalent to
whopping $10M/year. Other ideas included reducing Greenhouse gas emissions from Gas generated
engines, formulating a process Monitoring report to highlight deviations, digitization of operation
parameters on the system, and developing a monthly planning look-ahead schedule

I work on onsite field where females comprise less than 1% of the population. When I joined, there were
only 10 female employees and within 1-2 years most of them left. Thus, being a new female professional,
it is not always conducive to understand different people’s mindset and their working pattern. I remember
being very nervous in the beginning, but now I firmly believe that not only did I blend in the existing culture
but also managed to carve a niche for me.

Over these years, I have increasingly realized that ‘Operations’ function is largely industry-agnostic,
barring minor industry specificities. Hence, going forward, I do not want to be necessarily remain limited
to Oil and Gas sector alone. For example, India’s sunrise e-retailing sector provides phenomenal growth
opportunities for Operations professionals. As short-term goal, I aspire to work as senior operations
manager in an e-retailing firm such as Flipkart or Amazon. Over time, I know that I will prove myself and
rise the ranks, to occupy leadership positions in Operations Management domain.

Till now, in absence of any formal education in operations, I have let experience and instinct guide me.
However, as I aspire for a career in Operations, I would need a formal academic background in operations
management. At IIM B, courses such as ‘Competition and strategy’, ‘Operations management’ will
prepare me to assume higher responsibilities in operations and strategy management. Programs such as
OP-ARENA will help me learn about operations industry and RANNEETI will teach me about business
strategy in companies. Apart from leaning technical aspects, these events also become a platform of idea
exchange and networking. IIM B’s vibrant ‘Operations Management club’, case-study pedagogy, and
experiential opportunities such as IIM B Business Conclave will provide opportunities to apply my in-class
learning to real-life situations, enabling me to confidently embark upon my future goals.