For IIM-Ahmedabad student, maa spells success

AHMEDABAD: A student who has earned a place at IIM-A bears the name of Het Shitalben Shukla, as an expression of gratitude to his mother who raised him as a single parent.
Het’s pride in his mother, underlined by his reverence for her, recalls the famous line from the 1975 blockbuster Deewar: “Mere paas maa hai”.
Growing up in Bopal, where he lived in a rented house till 2015, Het never went to any coaching institute till he was in Class 11. “My mother always helped me with my studies. She holds a diploma in mechanical engineering,” Het said. “During the early stages of my life, she worked as a tuition teacher to take care of our household and other expenses.”
The hard work and persistence paid off. Het was placed in the 97.53rd percentile in CAT and was recently offered admission at IIM-A in the PGP FABM (food and agribusiness management) programme for the 2021-23 batch.
As a child, Het often passed by the IIM-A main campus, known for its iconic red-brick buildings. He was always eager to find out what was inside the gates.
“I got to know more about the institute by reading books authored by Chetan Bhagat and Rashmi Bansal,” Het said. He got through IIM-A on his second attempt.
He completed his Bachelor of Science (Hons) course in horticulture from Anand Agricultural University. He has worked at a private firm as a sales and purchase executive for agricultural commodities.
While pursuing his undergraduate course, he visited several farms and food processing units. During his interactions with farmers, he learnt of the critical problem of post-harvest loss.
“It seems that due to improper post-harvest management, India loses about 25-30% of harvested horticultural crops,” Het said. “Apart from that, only 2% of the total harvest is processed.” Processing of horticultural crops is important because it adds value to products and farmers can increase their incomes.
“I saw the problem of post-harvest loss as an opportunity to help the farmers. But to achieve that I needed to know the basic concepts required for effective management,” Het said. “All this ignited a passion in me to pursue a master’s degree in business administration.”