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Q. How has been your journey from IIFM to this role?
A. I was offered a position as Associate Research Manager at IMRB International (now Kantar) during the IIFM Campus Placement Fest. And that organization remained my professional mainstay from 2008 to 2020 (barring a year-long sabbatical which I took in 2012-13 to appear in Civil Services Examination). I have not only learned the tricks of the trade here – thanks to amazing bosses, colleagues, and juniors who I had the fortune of knowing over the years – but was also able to apply that to the satisfaction of many a client. My journey up the responsibility ladder in this organization has been immensely satisfying. In fact, I used to joke around the office corridors that IMRB, in fact, meant “I’m Rahul Bharadwaj”. Ha ha! However, since the past couple of years, I have been wanting to start work as an independent market research and insights consultant and, eventually, I moved out of Kantar at the end of 2020. I am now building my own consulting firm, Ayvole, and hope to bring even more value to my clients through my work.
Q. What were some of the key milestones/learning in this journey that you would like to share with us?
A. I always used to tell my team (at Kantar) that a couplet from the movie Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara defines a researcher best: “Ankhon Mein Hairaniya Le Kar Chal Rahe Ho To Zinda Ho Tum.” That, I suppose, defines any job – you are bound to do well if you hold the world (professionally, in this case) around you in wonder and are ever ready to learn new things. The moment you decide to stop learning – you die (professionally).
Q. What is the most satisfying part of your current role?
A. There are two things that are absolutely rewarding in a role of a B2B market researcher. The first is the joy of learning new things. As a market researcher, you need to delve into the unknown. There is an excitement to that journey – something akin to an adventure. You must be ready to be surprised! And that is fun – even if many times daunting.
The second is the variety of work that you get to do which never ever allows your learning curve to flatten. During my decade-long experience in this field, I have worked with clients in sectors such as auto, BFSI, biotech & health, building materials, construction & real-estate, e-tech, energy & environment, FMCG, FMCD, industrial tools and machinery, logistics, etc. Within each sector, clients’ central business questions have varied widely. It cannot get more diverse than this.
Q. Has your learning at IIFM helped in shaping how you approach your professional roles?
A. While the course structure, content, pedagogy as well as delivery at IIFM was amazing, I think it was the practical experiences that IIFM offered us, through field trips and organizational training, that came in particularly useful for me professionally.
Q. Who (or what) are the biggest influences or drivers in your career? What would be your advice to freshers and IIFM graduates who are looking to choose similar sectors/roles?
A. The greatest influence on me, professionally, has been my first boss – Mr. V. Sridhar – and my super-boss – Mr. Rathina Kumar. In fact, it was Mr. Rathina Kumar who interviewed me at the IIFM’s Placement Fest. Both of them have been amazing mentors and have been responsible for my development as a B2B market researcher. These are the people whom I still reach out to for any advice in this field.
Q. What are your favorite memories during your IIFM days?
A. Memories at IIFM are like Hermione’s Handbag – you can conjure any type of memory you want and IIFM is sure to provide it. However, it is the friends, which I made for life, which I cherish the most about IIFM. We loved each other, we worked with each other, we played with each other, we fought with each other, and then hated each other before falling in love again. And it was simply an amazing magical time which I experienced there. I can keep talking about this and I am sure what I would say has already been said by the alumni you have interviewed before me and would also be said by those who you would interview after me.
Q. In hindsight, what was the biggest contribution (courses, faculty, library, friends, and alumni. Anything else!!) or take away from IIFM that you think played a critical role in shaping you as an individual or professional?
A. All of the I above, I suppose. Brilliant and passionate teachers, a treasure trove of a library, amazing friends, the beautiful campus (which inspires you in its own quaint ways) as well as always-ready-to-help alumni – they have all played a significant role.
Q. The best friends/seniors/faculty at IIFM? Some memorable titbits that you like to share.
A. We were fortunate to be taught by the very best of teachers who challenged our limits and helped us achieve those. I would especially like to mention Dr. C.S. Rathore, Dr. Manmohan Yadav, Dr. CVRS, Dr. Patnaik, Dr. Rekha Singhal, Dr. Amitabh Pandey, and many others.
Among the seniors, I was fortunate enough to have done one of my internships under Mr. Ashish Mishra (then at Grasim) where I learned a lot. I have been privileged to know Mr. Akshai Abraham and Mr. Santosh Singh closely while in Chennai. Among the immediate seniors, I interacted the most with Mr. Mayank Chaturvedi who was also a sounding board for me and had many words of great advice which have really helped me a lot.
I had amazing people as my batchmates, and I came to love and respect all of them and am still in touch with many of them. I had a wonderful time with people such as Arjun (you can’t beat his undiminishable energy), Shrey (loved his amazing attitude and his ideals of friendship), Sunil (a genius with unmatched humility), Shailendra, Parul, Pranita, Kallol, Sonal, Varun, Kshitiz, Shweta, Kanika and Garima, and others.
Q. As an alumnus, what is your advice to freshers or those who are joining IIFM to get the best out of the 2 years there?
A. First (and this is advice which I would give anyone at any stage of life), know that you are there because you were meant to be there. So, search for your destiny within and around yourself (in this case IIFM – both its soft and hard infrastructure). Look hard and for sure you will find it.
Be amazed and keep your five senses open to new learning – this is a wonderful life (even if at times it does not seem so)! Make great friends! Have fun! Be loyal – to yourself (most of all) and to others! Take time out to develop yourself – both intellectually and emotionally. Take things seriously – but only to the extent they merit and no more.
Q. What is your typical day at the office?
A. I would answer this question in two parts: time as an employee and that as an entrepreneur.
I have worked in Delhi NCR for most of my career (except for the initial 3.5 years or so when I was in Chennai; a city I fell in love with). This has meant a long commute to the office (though I also worked from home 1-2 days a week) – between 1.5 to 2 hours one side depending upon the mode of transport I took (car or metro). My typical day at the office, which was around 8-10 hours long, comprised, lately, working with my managers and my team to plan the strategy to achieve our targets and then executing them. This included meeting clients, understanding their research needs, preparing proposals for them, supervising the execution of market research projects, and, obviously, firefighting when things go wrong (which they do and should do; or else how would you learn!).
Since January 2021, when I started working independently, through my firm Ayvole, I typically work from 8 AM in the morning to around 8 PM in the night (with the usual breaks in between). My workday is more varied now – I spend more time learning, especially the things which I had been putting off, a significant time is spent networking especially on LinkedIn, writing new proposals as well as further developing my offer. The days are more hectic now and though I am nowhere near working 80 hours a week, I can feel what Lori Greiner (Shark Tank fame) meant when she said that “entrepreneurs are the only people who work 80-hour weeks to avoid working 40-hour weeks”. There is always a nagging feeling at the end of the day that I haven’t done enough and, I suppose that is a good thing. It keeps me on my toes.
Q. And how about weekends, Hobbies, Family, and anything else you want to add
A. Again, this question too I would like to answer in two parts: pre-Covid-19 and through/post-Covid-19 times.
We (me and my wife) largely had a “weekend marriage”, since our marriage, as she works as a government doctor near Dehradun (also a hometown for both of us) and we largely met over the weekends only. Therefore, a workweek for both of us has been strictly working and weekends being strictly fun. Over these many years of marriage, we have cultivated many common hobbies. We love theatre (watching) and spent many Saturday-evenings enjoying the rich Delhi theatre culture. We also love to travel and see new places and ensured that we holidayed (even if for a short 2-4 day period) at least 3 or 4 times a year. Apart from this, we also love watching movies, dining out, and trying out new cuisines.
As soon as Covid-19 became an emergency in India (late March 2020), Kantar declared a mandatory work-from-home for an indefinite period and I shifted my base to Dehradun. In the initial 3-4 months, we remained very vigilant regarding Covid-19 prevention precautions (especially because my wife’s hospital was one of the centre of Covid-19 quarantine/treatment). This meant literally ‘castling’ our house and moving out only when absolutely necessary. However, since late June when the lockdowns eased, I and my wife started exploring Dehradun on our cycles and it has now become a passion. Late last year, we also bought an electronic piano and are slowly learning our way around it. I do hope to play Beethoven’s Moonlight Sonata someday. So, in a way, Covid-19 has brought a lot of changes to my life and most have been very welcoming.
Q. Favourite Books, movies, authors.
I am a voracious reader (though of late I find less time to read) and maintain a good library at home. Therefore, the books are too many to name here. But, in general, I love reading about history and culture, William Dalrymple being my favourite. I have, over the years, come to love the twilight period of Indian history (a 150-year period from the death of Aurangzeb to the 1857 Rebellion). Reading books (and traveling) has allowed my mind to open up (and as Dr. Chinmaya S Rathore sir said once to me, (“opening up is an irreversible process”).
I love a variety of movies except, in general, the horror genre (I have no patience for the ever-angry ghost bent on troubling anyone and everyone but fell in love with the way the ghost stories were humanized in the Netflix twin-series, ‘The Haunting of Hill House’ and ‘The Haunting of Bly Manor’). I love the fantasy genre the most with The Lord of the Rings movies (as also the book) being my all-time favourite. Among the directors, I like movies by Christopher Nolan as well as Quentin Tarantino (I haven’t watched all his movies but fell in love with all the ones which I watched).
I generally like soft music – mostly Indian – but of late have also started listening to Piano pieces (absolutely love Ludovico Einaudi).
Love for poetry, both English and Hindustani, is something which – I believe – I have inherited from my maternal grandfather through my mother. Ramdhari Singh Dinkar remains my, as of so many others’, favourite.
Q. IIFM is driven by alumni’s passion and commitments towards its goal. How would you like to contribute to IIFM or IIFM alumni, students?
A. I would be very happy to help in any way I can to contribute towards IIFM, its students as well as alumni. One of the most immediate things which I can do is mentor students on whatever I have learnt in the corporate world over the years through sessions/lectures. I am also working towards floating, at least one, summer internship this year at my firm Ayvole. I am hoping that it may prove useful for the development of students at IIFM in whatever limited way.
Q. What do you think is different at IIFM now vs when you studied there? What do you think is a positive change and what is not?
A. Unfortunately, (and this has been largely due to procrastination on my part) I have not visited IIFM since I graduated in 2008. I would love to visit soon – as soon as this pandemic gets over. But I have been in touch with some of the professors, the alumni, and the students. The feedback has been mixed – with the general trend (even if gradual) being of some pessimism over the years. I would be very happy to help, in any way, to make the sentiment, as well as the underlying conditions for that, more positive.
Q. Any suggestions on who you want to get profiled/interviewed here?
A. I have mentioned many of my batchmates in one of the questions above. You can profile/interview all of them – they are all amazing people.