Home Newsroom Meet Oindrila Ray, The Mother Who Made It To IIM-A, 13 Years After Graduation

Meet Oindrila Ray, The Mother Who Made It To IIM-A, 13 Years After Graduation

Shamik Banerjee

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Meet Oindrila Ray, The Mother Who Made It To IIM-A, 13 Years After Graduation

0 min read

Like so many other women, Oindrila Ray - a 2008 graduate in IT from the Indian Institute of Information Technology (IIIT) - had deferred her dreams of going to a top B-school in India due to societal and family pressure. Finally, after 13 years and against all odds, she is now a student of MBA-PGPx at IIM Ahmedabad.

It was not easy for Oindrila especially after she became a mother in 2015. Her son Ishaan was diagnosed with borderline autism and she had to prioritize his health over everything else. At one point, she even left her job, making the prospect of pursuing a degree from a top B-school even more difficult with a career break. But she was not someone to give up.

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When the immediate issues with her son's health were resolved, she got back to studies and started preparing for GMAT. Oindrila scored an incredible 700 marks in the GMAT exam and took admission into IIM Ahmedabad.

Now, she is an inspiration for many.

Taking The Big Step

"It all begins within," says Oindrila, while talking about overcoming challenges. According to her, the preparation started when her son was hospitalized within 3 months of being born. The difficulties she had to overcome at that point made her stronger and gave her belief that she can make it to a top B-school.

"There were days when I thought I could not do this – on days for instance when my son was particularly unwell," she said, admitting that she couldn't have done it without the excellent support of her parents and husband. "...At the end of the day I reminded myself that I had been doing it so far and I can carry on for another day," she added.

Oindrila said that the decision to go ahead and do the course, even after getting admission, was fraught with difficulties. It meant that she would be away from home and her husband would have to take care of their child. Many women, especially the mothers of her son Ishaan's friend, questioned her decision.

"I realized that there have been times when I have given up things for them. So, I guess the first thing we need to do is stop feeling guilty and responsible and answerable for everything," said Oindrila, reflecting on how society restricts women's ambitions by inducing guilt. "We have to realise that unless we don't, society will continue to push us under responsibilities and all sorts of expectations," she added.

Reaching IIM Ahmedabad

According to Oindrila, everyone has their own journey and they need to take decisions accordingly. Talking about her story, she said that in India when a woman turns 29-30 everyone expects her to get married and have kids. However, for her, marriage and her son's health brought her back to India and eventually helped her to pursue MBA-PGPx at IIM Ahmedabad.

"It does not matter what time in life you plan to complete your education or dreams, what matters is that you do it," she said. In fact, after she went to IIM Ahmedabad, she was surprised by how much she could do. "I was not confident, before joining for instance, that I would be able to handle the long hours and the rigours of a full-time course but I was able to and it just happened once it started," she added.

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At IIM Ahmedabad, there would be days when she would hardly get any sleep from working long hours on assignments and exams. However, the fact that everyone was working inside the campus made the exhaustion bearable. "There is energy and excitement, tea at Bhavesh Bhai at 4 am, two hours of sleep, discussions and submissions," she recalled.

As her days at the institute are slated to end soon, she fondly remembered the cultural evening, sports nights, and every other aspect that made campus life wonderful and motivated her to not give up.

Conclusion

Oindrila Ray is a living example of what women can achieve when they refuse to give up. She resisted societal pressure and continued to pursue her dream, even when it seemed almost impossible. She is a reminder to women that they should do things for themselves and not for anyone else - “I did not do it for my son, I did it for myself and there is absolutely nothing wrong in that,” she said emphatically.

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