It's a rainbow batch at the IIMs-Jul 21, 2010

It's a rainbow batch at the IIMs

Shruthi Balakrishna, TNN, Jul 21, 2010, 02.23am IST



BANGALORE: A Railways TT, a Guinness record holder, a 20-something who founded a college, a teacher in a high school, a Hard Rock Cafe ambassador... these are profiles of a few students who have joined the Indian Institute of Managements' class of 2010.

The premier B-schools, which strongly believe in diversity, are surely not disappointed with its new crop of students, who have done remarkably well in their areas of interest, besides a commitment to society.

There is Jagadeesh Yathirajula, 25, first-year PGP student from IIM-Bangalore (IIM-B), who started working at 17, when boys his age were still studying. Fighting all odds, this commerce graduate from Andhra University started working as a ticket collector in the Railways after Class 12. He applied for a BCom through correspondence, and later became a section officer in the Indian Audit and Accounts department. "I opted to work due to financial constraints. Railways was the only job I got then," he says.

Passion for management compelled him to write his MBA in 2008, when he got calls from IIM-B and IIM-Lucknow, but he "couldn't convert the calls". He then appeared for CAT, and Lady Luck nudged him to IIM-B. Jagadeesh resigned as deputy manager at SBI and is "glad to make it after one-and-half years".

His batchmate Ranu Khade has two Guinness records to her credit, though both are through group participation. The first Guinness happened while she was studying engineering — she was one of 292 students who skipped simultaneously on a 50-metre rope in 2006. This BTech in computer science from the College of Engineering, Pune, got another record when she participated in a painting competition with many others. The theme ‘Evolution of human life', won her a Guinness certificate.

"In the skipping competition, we wanted to bring laurels to the college. As far as my second record, I am a gold medalist in elementary and intermediary exams in designing," says this Mumbaiite.