Rajiv serves as a student and teacher of organizational behavior. He deeply enjoys understanding the human psyche at various levels. And he firmly believes in purity of pursuit in life.
LinkedIn : https://www.linkedin.com/in/rajiv-kumar-064806278/
Twitter : https://twitter.com/rajivkdss
Q. How has been your journey from IIFM so far?
A. Quite fulfilling. When I graduated in 1998, I had no idea that I’d eventually end up here. I started with SPWD post IIFM and then moved to Hewitt Associates (India) Pvt. Ltd. I also worked as an Assistant Professor at IMT, Ghaziabad before joining IIM Calcutta in 2008.
Q. What were some of the key milestones/learning in this journey that you would like to share with us?
A. Although most of the things come back to me as blurred images, I can think of two. One was to decide to do a PhD in organizational behavior. I think—and I may be wrong here—I had started sensing that human behavior matters a lot. And I wanted to dig deeper into it. Hence, I tried to get admission into a PhD program, and for some reason, I wanted to do it in India so I went to IIM, Ahmedabad. Next was the decision to come back to academia. I had a corporate job after completing my PhD, but I realized my comfort level was a lot more in academia.
Q. What is the most satisfying part in your career?
A. The freedom to read, conduct research, and write. I can’t think of many other jobs where society entrusts—and provides you resources as well—to do so.
Q. Has your learning at IIFM helped in shaping how you approach your professional roles?
A. Difficult for me to pinpoint this. But I think IIFM, in general, opened a world of possibilities for me. Many things—the place, the hostel life, the social context, etc.—were new to me. They helped me approach my professional choices differently, I think.
Q. Who (or what) are the biggest influences or drivers in your careers?
A. One faculty member during my PhD days, who will remain unnamed. I could see in practice the diligence and meticulousness with which he conducted research. That was inspiring, to say the least.
Q. How did you decide to go for higher studies post IIFM? And how was the experience?
A. I have already mentioned my growing interest in understanding human behavior. Additionally, PhD also appeared to be professionally rewarding.
Q. What are your favorite memories during your IIFM days?
A. Almost everything. I can’t think of anything that I did not enjoy.
Q. In hindsight, what was the biggest contribution or take away from IIFM that you think played a critical role in shaping you as an individual or professional?
A. As mentioned earlier, my entry into IIFM opened a world that did not exist for me earlier. I had not heard of NGO sector, had very little idea of social challenges and how one could professionally address them. I don’t think I was insensitive, but the coursework there, interactions with alumni, the two OTs, field visit to Bastar, and the atmosphere in general sensitized me more and more to a different way of life and career.
Q. The best buddies / seniors /faculty at IIFM? Some memorable tidbits that you like to share.
A. Many people come to mind. Shakeb, Gaurav, Anoop, Devanshu, Alok and many others…I had a very good time with them. In terms of faculty and academics, I could not formulate any concrete impression of anyone or any course. It was mainly due to the fast pace of coursework there. But I do remember spending quite time in the library, just roaming around in general, and picking up anything that interested me.
Exploring the natural surrounding around the campus was another enjoyable part. I don’t think I have seen a better place wherein I could sit almost anywhere, and read, or reflect, or talk with someone about almost anything under the sun. I visited IIFM 6-7 years back, and I think the place still has the same charm for me.
Q. As an alumni, what’s your advice to freshers or those are joining IIFM to get best out of the 2 years there?
A. Explore your interests and pursue what suits you. I do not believe that there is one particular route to peace and happiness.
Q. What was your typical day at the work? And how does it look like while you are on a break?
A. I have spurts of intense activity. Roughly four five months are such where I am teaching more than one class almost every day. And then I get days—and weeks in case I am lucky—when I can just read, write, watch documentaries or movies, and in general, cover some depth.
Q. Favorite Books, movies, authors?
A. I like some authors in the field of organizational behavior. But in general, I think the following come to my mind:
1. Almost all the work that I have read by Munshi Premchand
2. Raag Darbari
3. Robert Pirsig and his two books
4. Ayn Rand books
5. Catch-22
6. Margin Call and The Big Short
7. Dances with Wolves
8. Many more, but I think the above list should be alright for some time…😊
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 can definitely engage with the students so let me know how we can make it work.
Q. Any suggestions on who you want to get profiled/interviewed here?
A. I can think of the following from the batches that I know.
Devanshu Chakrabarty, Anoop Tiwari, Gaurav Prateek, Shakeb Nabi, Neeraj Negi, Bharati Joshi, Kunal and Sudipta, Swandip Sinha, Santosh Singh of my batch. I case I am leaving someone out, it is mostly because I am rushing.
From some other batches, I can think of Rohit Jindal and Mamta Vardhan (94-96), Atulya, Kajoli, Shailesh Nagar, Sridhar Reddy, Rajesh Upadhyayula, Devesh of 95-97, and Prakash Kaswan, Anup Singh, and Joginder of 97-99. Again, I might have left some names because of my foggy memory.