Darshita Chaturvedi — Interview #7
Darshita Chaturvedi graduated from IIT Kharagpur with a Bachelor’s degree in Civil Engineering. She currently works as a financial analyst at BlackRock. From winning many accolades in international and national case competitions to graduating as the best all-rounder of the batch and representing IIT Kharagpur in Inter IIT Tech Meet, she has proved her mettle in various disciplines. She was the recipient of Dr BC Roy Memorial Gold Medal, Institute Silver Medal, Order of Merit, etc.
Her extraordinary and multi-faceted career so far is truly an inspiration for all of us. She aspires to pursue MBA from an Ivy League college, which would further strengthen her career in finance.
1) What motivated you to choose a career in finance?
From my sophomore year, I had been participating in various case study competitions which made me inclined towards the business field. Then, I got an opportunity to intern at Credit Suisse where I worked on many interesting projects and got exposure to a vibrant business environment.
What interests me about finance is the intellectual challenge involved in understanding financial markets while integrating complex mathematical models to put them in practice..
2) How does it feel reaching where you are? What do you think when you look back at your life so far?
I come from a small town, where students especially girls don’t even dream of getting into an institute like IIT. There were no coaching facilities and then there was a family crisis that left me in tatters. So in that respect when I look back, I am glad to have come so far. I am very grateful to people who supported me especially during times of despair. But again, there is a long journey ahead.
3) How did your stay at Kgp influence you?
I firmly believe in this saying — “What separates the successful from unsuccessful are the expectations they had from their own lives”. Kgp’s most important contribution in my life has been the realm of possibilities it opened up for me that motivated me to set higher expectations from myself. And more importantly, it made me believe that no matter where you are from, your dreams are still valid.
4) You were the only female student in Inter IIT Tech Meet at your time. What kind of hurdles did you face being a female minority?
There were flaws in way the Inter IIT tech meet was organised, like there were certain rules which didn’t take into consideration that there were girls participating. For example, the case study competition was planned to run overnight. However, there was no arrangement for a working space at that time of the hour in the entire campus.
5) What is the one thing that the current you would like to tell to your younger self? Or What message would you like to give to the present students of IIT Kgp?
Utilise / harness the multifarious opportunities at Kgp. They necessarily need not be directed towards a goal. Don’t worry too much if you still haven’t figured out that one goal, that one passion. A story comes to my mind which goes like this:
A man was passing through a jungle where he found many arrows hitting the bull’s eye on trees.
He looked around and found a boy with a bow and arrows.
He complimented him, “You are such a great archer. All your arrows are hitting the bulls eye. Can you show me how you do it?”
The boy admitted shyly, “I am not such a good archer. I actually hit the arrow first and make the circle later.”
While in Kgp, enjoy archery!
5) What difference in attitude towards women did you observe after graduating from Kgp?
In all big firms which have been functional from a long time, regular feedbacks are taken of the problems women face, they have acknowledged those issues and have taken measures to improve the situation. Hence, I have never felt any indifference targeted specifically towards women at work, which I felt some times in college.
There exists a professional environment, everybody is encouraging and supportive. The ratio here is still skewed, so you would find yourself interacting more with guys. But there are many women groups where we meet and discuss our experiences and problems.
6) Did you feel being restricted by the choice of your department at IIT Kharagpur?
Most people think a lot in hindsight about better possible scenarios if things were different or if they had taken some decision differently. Regardless of the regrets or the “should’ves” or the “could’ves”, it all seems to have worked out in the end. Moreover, we can connect the dots looking at our past and we should move forward thinking that whatever we did was the best decision at that time.
In kgp, choice of department doesn’t feel that restrictive because there is ample time and opportunity to explore different areas and find things which interest you. Presently, I am working in the finance sector, so had I been an Economics graduate, maybe it would have been better but I never really felt regretful.
7) If given administrative powers, one rule you would want to change at IIT Kgp?
I was involved in many events under the Technology General Championships held each year. The participation and interest of women in such events is relatively less as compared to other Boys halls. And then there are competitions in which girls halls don’t even participate because of inadequate team size. I think the reason for this is that we don’t get enough help and mentorship; there is a lack of experienced seniors and hence the learning and output is not at par with other halls. This further brings the morale down for many students.
Since our higher objective is to nurture the talent among students, we can assign girls hostels to senior boys halls and they can participate as a single team so that girls can get proper mentorship and support. These mixed teams can be helpful in increasing participation from girls halls as well as bringing in new ideas.
Interviewed by Chahak Tharani
