Mradul is a management professional with over 10 years of experience in agriculture, animal husbandry, forestry, and climate change. Currently, he is working at The Nature Conservancy as Field Manager and looking after projects on landscape restoration, value chain development and market linkages.
He graduated from IIFM in 2012 with a specialization in ‘Conservation and Livelihood’. He believes in learning by doing and brings forth understanding (not expertise) on a diverse range of governance, legislative and project implementation aspects, especially in agriculture and forestry.
Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mradul-choubey-3a80a222
Q. How has been your journey from IIFM to this role?
A. It has been a journey full of learning and experience. I have worked on a diverse range of issues, from the ease of doing business, value chain development to conservation planning, landscape restoration and carbon forestry. The experience thus gained gives me a good understanding of various cross-current issues and diverging perspectives (Conservation/economic-development/rights/livelihood). I am developing a unique skill set to help plan and implement projects covering multiple-levers. Still, I have a lot to learn before I can call myself a sector expert.
Q. What were some of the key milestones/learning in this journey that you would like to share with us?
A. There have been quite a few little milestones. I learned a lot from my successes and failures everywhere. Intense, brutal, and demanding, my tenure at Deloitte has been the most rewarding in terms of achievement. As we could complete near impossible assignments in short timelines with limited resources. I worked with NITI Aayog, Ministry of Tribal Affairs, Ministry of Food Processing, Asian Development Banks, and World Bank-funded projects on various assignments that helped influence policy and decision-making at the Central and State level. With EY, I worked on an entirely different spectrum and have played an essential role in implementing critical reforms related to Commercial courts, urban development and revenue in Madhya Pradesh. I also developed, tested and implemented payment systems and land and water allotment systems for MPIDC.
TERI was fun; it played a decisive role in my formative year as the exposure I received was immense. I had the opportunity to work and watch the work of leading researchers in the environment sector closely. We contributed to the NDC and CDM projects in Uttar Pradesh, and JICA supported work on mangrove restoration in Odisha and community development plans in North East. I was one of the core team members responsible for designing the Mid-Career Training Program for Indian Forest Service Officers. Evaluating each of the participating senior officers on class participation in the program was fun.
Though less flashy, my tenure at Madhya Pradesh Forest Department gave me some critical lessons in governance. Initially, I saw myself as a glorified assistant who wrote letters. But rubbing shoulders with senior Forest officers and being involved in planning and implementing important central and state schemes helped shape our outlook on how things work. The stark contrast between theory and practice, advocacy and on-ground implementation became apparent when we got our hands dirty in implementation.
Q. What is the most satisfying part of your current role?
A. I am working in perhaps one of the best conservation organizations there is. We are working on some exciting ideas and have set ambitious goals. I hope we can showcase and demonstrate our work in two to three years.
The opportunity to work on my primary areas of interest (restoration and livelihood) in an organization of international repute while staying close to your home is extremely rare. I cannot ask for more!
Q. Has your learning at IIFM helped in shaping how you approach your professional roles?
A. Yes. Field trips, internships, exposures and classroom discussions played a pivotal role. I was fortunate enough to be mentored by Prof. Ujjal Sarma. Faculty during our time encouraged discussions. We learned a lot from the experiences of IFS officers during over classes. Teachers and students bonded well outside the classrooms; I will never forget morning trips to Van Vihar with Prof. Advait and his assignments for our fieldwork in Churna.
During our time, various clubs were very active. There were activities almost every other week; this helped in developing camaraderie among students. I am actually a backbencher and occasionally scored well in exams and quizzes. Still, I used to perform well in projects and extra-curricular activities.
Q. Who (or what) are the biggest influences or drivers in your careers. What would be your advice to freshers and IIFM graduates who are looking to choose similar sectors/roles?
A. Alumni have been of great help; their feedback has helped me to develop; their advice has always helped during tough times. I would advise everyone to work on their communications skills; how you communicate is critical in how you move up the ladder in your organization. Good leaders are always good communicators.
Quality always wins over quantity: Always spend a little extra time researching or engaging with stakeholders; This may slow you down, but it will strengthen the final output. Clients (even government organizations) look for insights and content, not for rhetoric.
Q. What are your favorite memories during your IIFM days?
A. ‘I prefer real jungle over concrete jungle’ was the response to ‘Why IIFM’ in my introduction to our seniors and batchmates at IIFM. Cheesy lines, I agree, but I really meant every word.
The feeling got stronger as we finished our orientation and completed the course. For two years, we lived through many magical moments that now linger as unforgettably in our memories.
My favorite memories are playing football, trekking, field trips, India winning Cricket WC, and parties in the cave. Chai samosa breaks during classes, some exciting classes and discussions, fieldwork and hustle during the internship. Literally endless questions that I asked in classes. Dog’s sleeping in classes during lectures, banter on IP messenger, banter among friends’ classes. Prof. CVRS announcing quizzes with a mischievous grin and giving us papers in Nicolas Cage style (This one is actually terrifying because of the D’s or C’s I got).
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. We had an intense program, frequent assignments, quizzes, and mid-term and end-term interspersed with frequent field trips, parties and extracurricular activities. This kept everyone on the toe. Academics was just one small part of the overall experience. The faculty also experimented with our batch as we were given challenging assignments. I will never forget Prof. Dharani’s open book exams (I barely passed) and assignments/tests by Prof. KK Ray.
Q. The best friends / seniors /faculty at IIFM? Some memorable tidbits that you like to share.
A. All faculties played an essential role in my development; however, I would like to thank Prof. Ujjal Sarma for his valuable insights, support and guidance. Prof. Advait, for being one of the most knowledgeable, humble, and easygoing mentors. Prof. CP Kala, for his frequent guidance and encyclopedic knowledge of medicinal plants. Prof. Dharani, for being a patient listener encouraging discussions and facilitating one of our most memorable field trips. Prof. Yogesh Dubey for making Wildlife Conservation a lot of fun.
Friends are the biggest takeaway I have from IIFM. Though I get along very well with most of our peers, I cherish the friendship and the unbreakable bond that has developed with some of my batchmates (Darshan, Swayam, Abhishek Chauhan, Vijit, Prakash and Varun Mohan).
I’ll just use this space to remember my friends so they can reminisce a bit when they read this section.
Footballers: Swayam, Darshan, Vijit, Tete, Karthik, Binay, Arvind, Abhinav, Shitiz, Bhasker, Shubha, Yadav, Vamsi, Rohit Singh, Wapang, Angam, Nakul Dogra, Anuj Sharma.
Assignment (proxy) partners: Lalit Bhanot, Varun Mohan, Prakash Kamble, Shubhodeep, Kiran KP.
Movies, music and books: Varun Mohan, Arun Sreekumar, Arnab Dey, Chayan, Kiran, Akshat, LK Stephan, Navneet Bhatt, Ram Atre, Afsar Gandhi (used to share one recent movie right before exam day)
Backbenchers and J-Gang: Jitesh (Honorable leader), Varun Mohan, Prakash Kamble, Jaideep, Lalit Kumar, Sampath Gelam, Shubham Yadav.
Counterstrike: Arnav Subba, Jaideep, Binay Soreng, Rohit Singh, Arnab Dey.
Chess: Lalit Kumar, Arnav Subba, Swayam.
Q. As an alumnus, what is your advice to freshers or those are joining IIFM to get best out of the 2 years there?
A. Do not take NIRF rankings seriously; you are in one of the best institutes.
Work on your communication skills; clear-concise report writing, and presentation skills will catapult your growth.
Keep a balanced view on any issue, subject, or work area.
Connect with peers, discuss and ideate on issues but never judge; learning stops the day you start giving verdicts.
Keep an open mind and a positive attitude. Listen even if you disagree with someone.
Q. What is your typical day at the office? (We want to know what your day job looks like)
A. I am working from home these days, so most of my time is spent juggling calls, project work and our twins. The best part of my current role is frequent field work on project sites and focus on implementation; however, there is a world of difference between execution and theory. The challenging part is managing different perceptions and ideologies with the aspiration and needs of the local community and on-ground stakeholders.
Q. And how about weekends, Hobbies, Family and anything else you want to add
A. Most of the time is spent goofing around with my twins; spare time is wasted on bickering, watching football or playing video games.
Q. Favorite Books, movies, authors.
A. Books: Catch 22, Catcher in the Rye. I love to read fantasy and science fiction.
Movies: Too many to name here
Authors: Joseph heller, Brandon Sanderson, Jeffery Archer, Robin Hobb, Robert Ludlum, Len Deighton.
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 am posted in Bhopal these days, and I will be happy to visit the campus and engage with current students.
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. Our seniors (Bhowmik Shah, Sahil Wali etc) were very active on Paagulguy, quite a few of our batchmates were influenced and joined because of great outreach by our seniors. IIFM also needs to market itself well by connecting with the leading CAT coaching institutes, this will help in boosting the number of applications.
Quite a few good teachers have left for better opportunities (KK Ray, Arvind Bijalwan, Madhu Verma, PK Biswas), we need to work on faculty retention and incentivize the faculty for their research and project outputs.
Q. Any suggestions on who you want to get profiled/interviewed here?
A. Paramjyoti Chhattopadhyay (Niti Aayog, Deloitte), Arun Sreekumar (Assistant Professor, IIM Ahmedabad), Avinaw Prasad (Deloitte), Neha Pahuja (Shell, Teri), Dr. Ashish Aggarwal (Associate Professor, IIM Lucknow), Varun Mohan (Clinton Health and Access Initiative), Navneet Bhatt (Chevening Scholar), Omkar Patange (IIASA), Abhishek Chauhan (Indian Posts Payments Bank), Karthik MP (Krea University), Lalit Kumar (Standard Chartered Bank).