Vivek did his Chemical Engineering from Panjab University, Chandigarh. He worked with Reliance Industries Limited for 4 years before he took a break for 6 months to think and plan his path ahead. While working as a Chemical engineer in RIL, Vivek worked with migrated contractual laborers from Bihar, Jharkhand, Odisha & West Bengal. That experience helped him in choosing the path ahead of a development professional and IIFM with its unique curriculum was the first stepping stone which intrigued him in discovering more about this sector.
Q. How has been your journey from IIFM so far?
A. In 2015 I joined Pradan after graduating from IIFM. I started my journey in Pradan from Gumla, a district in Jharkhand and currently working in a Central Function but based in Torpa, Khunti, Jharkhand. These 9 years of my journey in Pradan has really been full of learnings about myself, about the communities that live around me and about the development sector.
Q. What were some of the key milestones/learning in this journey that you would like to share with us?
A. I had worked with the tribal rural communities of Gumla co-travelling with them in their development journey. In 2019, I lost my right leg in a road accident. After 8 months in bed I joined back Pradan working for the rural communities of Gumla and later in Torpa. Due to my disability there was always a mobility issue to move in rural areas hence Pradan offered me a role in Development Engagement Support Unit (DESU) to support organization with data analysis. It came as pleasant surprise at such a time when I had started upskilling myself in working with data.
My journey in Pradan started with staying in a tribal household of Jana, a village in Gumla, which I have seen develop as a self-sustainable village with diligent efforts of the community and Pradan based on a common understanding that development at the cost of exploiting resources is never the right way to go.
It took me an year to re-join Pradan after my accident and starting my new role. I started upskilling myself through various resources online to work with data. Using data judiciously can be helpful for any sector be it Development sector or any other as it gets answers to many complicated problems. Data has been solving our numerous problems in daily life slowly.
Q.How has been your experience in your current Organization-Pradan? What all areas have you been working here? Tell us in detail about the vision of Pradan.
A. I have felt independent in my organization where people are always ready to hear you. Pradan has always given me a platform if I want to learn, innovate or take risk. In Pradan I have worked with Self Help Groups and its higher tiers in strengthening them, mobilizing finances for them and helping them in keeping track of their finances. Also supporting them in strengthening their livelihoods, health, water, sanitation and natural resource management. Currently I have developed a grant management platform for Pradan and working on developing a model to detect diseases in plants in the local language.
PRADAN empowers impoverished communities in rural India, particularly women, by organizing collectives and facilitating access to government programs. They recruit educated professionals to work alongside villagers, emphasizing empathy and skill-building rather than delivering solutions. Through grassroots efforts and partnerships, PRADAN aims to catalyze large-scale positive change and influence development policies.
Q. What is the most satisfying part in your career?
A. Working with the tribal communities and seeing them smile has always been the most satisfying part of my career and motivation for me to work in development sector, but today in the changed circumstances of my life, I may not directly but maybe indirectly I can be useful for them using the power of data.
Q. Has your learning at IIFM helped in shaping how you approach your professional roles?
A. Yes of course. The field trips, excursion sessions in campus, lab sessions, projects & internships were really helpful in understanding and enlightening me on how the development sector functions around the life of people. Many of the subjects taught to me during IIFM days are still useful in my current role too; be it GIS, Accounting, Research Methodology, Quantitative Techniques, ADA & Forestry subjects.
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. My biggest influence has been Anish Sir (PFM 92-94). His pre placement talk about Pradan helped me in making up my mind to join Pradan. My co-workers and their positive attitude in every situation has been a driving factor for me. Among all of them I admire my wife- Surbhi Mahatma– the most. PRADAN team as a whole is special in the way they select people who are so warm and always helpful and passionate towards the work on ground level across geography. They motivate me in keep working for the rural communities.
For young IIFM’ites, it is more about knowing what they actually want to do in life…. anyone who wants to start a career in development sector need to ask themselves first if they draw pleasure in working for the rural communities staying with them in their journey. That is the key…
Q. What are your favorite memories during your IIFM days?
A. Some of my favorite memories during IIFM are the field trips to the three bordering states of MP, Gujarat and Rajasthan.
IIFM has memories which are very special including all the events that happened on campus! Late night preparations for them, food, dogs, fights with friends… list is endless.
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. Obviously IIFM has a big impact on my life. IIFM not only teaches you subjects but it also gives us platforms to practically apply the knowledge. So many things are going on in the campus now or then, if you partake in end-to-end execution of couple of such event you will be empowered to execute any professional project too. I was a part of Entrepreneurship Development cell, SI committee and Placement committee. Being a member, I got involved in planning to execution of many events. Participated conclaves myself. These all helped me build confidence in facing real life challenges.
Q. The best buddies / seniors /faculty at IIFM? Some memorable tidbits that you like to share?
A. My best buddies at IIFM were my roommate Ambuj, Atulya, Dinesh, Utkarsh, Chandrakant, Ashish(he left in first year). Together we had started Apna canteen in my hostel room as IIFM canteen used to be closed in the night!!
Ishvar who was always there to talk to. Then Ram, Ankur, Sourabh, Ankita, Arshi, Shukla, Shantanu, Sarvana, Vipin, Rashmi, Dev, Nikhil, Gaurav – I worked a lot with them and learnt a lot of wisdom from them. Some of my favorite faculties have been CSR Sir, CVRS Sir, KK Jha Sir, Advait Sir, Ashutosh Sir, Rekha Ma’am & Manmohan Sir. Some of their teachings still help me a lot today and I still refer to their notes.
Q. As an alumni, what’s your advice to freshers or those who are joining IIFM to get best out of the 2 years there?
A. IIFM as a campus is one of its kind so feel blessed to be there. There is a pressing need of such educational institutions all over India in today’s context. My advice would be to enjoy your campus life to the fullest. IIFM is a happening campus and participating in the events gives lots of practical and experiential learnings. Choose your topics wisely because they are going to shape your career in a longer run. Develop an attitude of co-dependency with faculties, seniors and peers. Good guidance and helpful feedbacks are always catalysts for career growth.
Q. What was your typical day at the work? And how does it look like while you are on a break?
A. My typical day at work is mostly sitting with my laptop at my home or office and crunching some numbers trying to bring out some stories from them. Generally, when I am on a break I like to go out with my wife, cooking food sometimes at home or watching my favorite movies or web series.
Q. And how about weekends, hobbies, family and anything else you want to add?
A. During weekends I mostly like to rest at home with my family or go on long drives with my wife. I like cooking new delicacies and try some during weekends. During evenings spending time with family and binging on a nice movie or web series is comforting.
Q. Favorite Books, movies, authors?
A. Though my habit of book reading has been lost but some of my favorite books are Dongri to Dubai, Sense and Solidarity, India after Gandhi, Shantaram and Atlas Shrugged. I really want to restart reading and always open to some really good suggestions. The list of my favorite movies is endless as I can devour on movies of any language, culture or region until it has a good storyline in it.
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? Your engagement with IIFM Placement or OT/SI?
A. Pradan has been regularly offering roles to IIFM students in SIs and Placements. Though I would always love to guide the students there or the aspirants in making informed decisions. I can always interact on ‘data and its uses’ with students and make them relate to how they can make the best of the QT sessions and our wonderful library.
Q. What do you think is different at IIFM now vs when you studied there?
A. Since I left IIFM, I have not been much in touch with college though I came to know that now a new curriculum has started at IIFM on sustainability management and the intake of students have also increased.
Q. Any suggestions on who you want to get profiled/interviewed here?
A. To know more about the career path of a development professional in Pradan of an IIFM alumni, Sameer Da would be the best choice as he is the State Head of MP and having more than 15 years of experience in development sector and Pradan. Among my batchmates I would like to know more about Saurabh Khodke, Prateek Joshi and Nishant Jain.