On the Treadmill of ISB

The Rajat Gupta ISB All-Rounder Award was conferred on Ashish Handa from the Class of 2009, for his exemplary leadership initiatives, commitment towards community building, and exceptional academic performance during the year. Ashish spearheaded many student events at the ISB, each time keeping intact the ISB vision of excellence, and taking it ahead.

“I consider this an absolute honour.  The support of the entire ISB community and the Class of 2009 has been imperative in making this possible. I dedicate this award to my mother, who agreed to stay alone in Delhi while I studied here, and to my dad who is no longer with us,” said Ashish.

A Chartered Accountant from the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India, New Delhi, Ashish was the Elected Director of the Placement Committee at the ISB. During this one year at the ISB, he was responsible for ensuring a smooth placement process through a strong liaise with all student professional clubs, overseeing their interaction with potential recruiters and identifying recruitment opportunities. He played a key role in the revision / modification of the placement policy to align the interests of students, recruiters and the ISB, and helped execute new initiatives to evaluate student expectations, enhance recruiter-student connect, relay the importance of communication skills and overall placement preparation. Ashish organised soft skills interview facing workshops for students, and also conceptualised ‘Rumour Buster’ which was an interactive platform on the intranet to help kill any rumours or incomplete information about recruiters / job postings around the placement season.

Among his other initiatives was ‘Bindaas Bol,’ a student perspective building initiative that helped students discuss important issues in an informal comfortable setting and share different viewpoints. During the year, the student community interacted on issues of interest such as the US credit crisis, India versus China, the war against terrorism in Mumbai etc. He also co-initiated an innovative enterprise on campus called ‘Gullak,’ to set up educational scholarships for underprivileged children through low value monthly collections from the ISB community (initiative started with Anuj Srivastava, student, class of 2009). Ashish conceptualised and successfully implemented the ISB Screensaver – a paperless marketing tool for the internal school events which resulted in remarkable reduction in the e-mail traffic for students. He also co-authored a research paper on the future of securitisation and concerns associated with the global financial meltdown and prepared an analytical report on the sustainability of CEAT’s competitive advantage in the Indian tyre industry.

“ISB feels like a treadmill.  The more you get used to a particular pace, the faster it gets.  The environment, the faculty, the administration, the curriculum and extra-curricular activities constantly challenge you to perform better,” Ashish added. 

Ashish will soon be joining HSBC to assist in setting up their shared services centre in Delhi and to expand their horizon in India.