Every time someone asks me to “share my professional journey”, I suspect they secretly want comedy. Because the truth is: corporate life is the greatest sitcom ever written — only with less glamour and more Excel.
Location: Vadodara, Gujarat
Linkedin : www.linkedin.com/in/rajesh-gupta-8952768
Q. Tell us about your College before you came to IIFM. How was your experience there?
A. I started at NIT Surat as a young Mechanical Engineer who believed engineering can solve anything. Broken fan? Fix it. Relationship issue? Apply thermodynamics. Life confusion? Use mechanics of solids. Reality later confirmed: life is not a laboratory experiment. It is, however, a great place to learn humility.
Q. How was the 2 years at IIFM?
A. Then came IIFM Bhopal. Two years of some learning, incredible friendships (Ram, Pranay, Ratna, Vineet, Jayesh, Anand, Varsha, Rekha, Domu, Manish Verma, Manish Shankar, Sanjoy Ghosh, Kanchan Ghoshal, Anish and all others of my batch, immediate senior, and junior ones, and my evergreen roomie, the Pradeep Jacob Tharakkan), questionable mess food, magical campus sunsets, and great and not so great Professors who could make anything sound strategic — even lack of sleep. That place didn’t just educate us; it calibrated my sense of humour to survive corporate life for so long. Most of the learnings came from my batchmates and some from the kabaddi matches.
Q. How has been your journey from IIFM so far?
A. Post IIFM, Career began at Tata Coffee — the only job where “strong performance” and “strong coffee” were literally the same thing. Launched into an alien territory, where had to make do with sign language for a long time, till I learned the local lingo and worked with some incredible and oh so patient communities. Then after some change-overs, GE Hydro Service happened, and suddenly life was full of turbines, customers, bids, airports, global calls, jet lag, and PPTs with too many arrows and buzzwords. Somewhere between deals, deadlines and delayed flights, I thought that let me take it easy for some time, and decided to do exactly that.
Q. What made the journey special?
A. Not titles.
Not designations.
Definitely not business jargon like “synergy”, “alignment”, or “paradigm shift”.
It was:
• friends who became and are family.
• Bosses who trusted me (after scaring first).
• Customers who challenged you more than examiners ever did.
• Juniors who sometimes made me proud… and mostly nervous.
• And a family that patiently tolerated my airport lifestyle.
Q. Did IIFM help?
A. A lot. It taught me decision making, people management and the art of staying calm when everyone else is panicking — basically management’s most underrated skill.
Q. What is your typical day now?
A. Today, I am happily retired. My workday now involves:
• no meetings
• no targets
• no corporate emails marked URGENT
• and full control over tea, timing, and naps
Sometimes do I miss all that pressure? Oh yes, I do, so enjoying till it lasts.
Q. As an alumni, what’s your advice to young IIFM’ites who are at the begining of their career? What would be your advise for recent graduates who look for changing their sector after working for couple of years?And freshers or those are joining IIFM to get best out of the 2 years there?
A. To young professionals:
Do not chase glamour. Chase learning. And always carry humour along — it is cheaper than therapy and more powerful than caffeine.
To mid-career folks thinking of changing sectors:
Yes, you can do it. Just remember, when you start somewhere new, your 20+ years of experience converts into… “Please teach me again”.
To IIFM students:
Enjoy the campus, respect the faculty, value friendships, and attend classes… at least sometimes. Those two years shape you in ways you will understand only 20 years later.
Q. Do you feel connected to IIFM after more than 3 decades?
A. Of course. We are emotionally attached, academically indebted, and nostalgically loyal for life.
Q. Who should be featured next?
A. Any alum who has failed, recovered, laughed about it, and is still willing to mentor others. Those are the real heroes.
If you read till here — thank you.
If you smiled — even better.