These Students Got Direct Interview Offer From TATA Administrative Services And INR 2 Lakhs Cash Prize Via TATA Imagination Challenge 2021!

“It was inexplicable! I could not believe that my idea had made it to the top 13 amongst 85000+ registrations.”- Amirthavarshini LJ, IIM Kolkata. 

“I felt elated on hearing that my idea has been selected in the top 13 and had received so much credit, especially from TATA group.”- Sohan Gadre, Management Development Institute, Gurgaon. 

These are the reactions of two of the TATA Imagination Challenge (TIC) 2021 Grand Finale winners. Read more about their experiences and their game-changing ideas. 

What was the TATA Imagination Challenge?

Tata Imagination Challenge 2021 or TIC 2021 was India’s largest competition open to all college students in India as well as all Tata group employees across the world. TIC 2021 welcomed ideas of any discipline like technology, sustainability, economics, social change, arts, entrepreneurship, healthcare etc. from all corners of the country and received participation from over 4,800 campuses and Tata employees. The competition had 5 rounds in total which were as follows:

• Round 1.1: Tata Brand Assessment
• Round 1.2: Gamified Assessment
• Round 2: Video Pitch Submissions
• Idea Buddy Phase
• Round 3: Leader Interaction

The ideas were assessed on parameters such as innovation, feasibility, originality, approach etc.

The final 13 winners of TIC 2021 were awarded INR 2 Lakhs each. That’s not it! All the 13 winners were given a one-time pre-placement interview opportunity with TAS. All thanks to their marvelous ideas.

“Got a chance to shape and pitch my nascent idea”

For Amirthavarshini LJ from IIM Kolkata, TIC 2021 was an exciting and unbelievable experience. More so because she finally made it to the top 13! Her idea to have a community knowledge-driven easily accessible platform- Know Your Rights to resolve lack of awareness of government schemes among marginalized communities made her stand out. It was always at the back of her mind and TIC gave her a chance to put it forward. Her idea aimed at attaining political and social awareness with the help of technology When asked further on this, Amirthavarshini said,

“I believe that my forte is in technology. As a software engineer with 3 years of pre-MBA work experience, I had the idea about what would be the basic components of building my idea into a technological solution. This knowledge helped me in tackling the questions about practical implementation and scalability in the final round.”

Similarly, Sohan Gadre, who dreams of becoming an entrepreneur, wanted to test his idea before releasing it on a large scale. His idea was about a network of wellness centers in metro cities by using schools during non-school hours. The schools and the wellness centers would share the revenue generated and be responsible for the upkeep of the centers. He knew that this idea would provide a solution to an important real-life problem, but he was looking for some expert opinion to shape it further. And TIC provided him the best ground to do so.

“I looked forward to the leadership interaction round as it would give more clarity about my idea and the constructive feedback from the experts would help me make the foundation of my idea stronger.” he said.

The Rigorous Preparation

Just having an idea is not enough. It needed to be structured and pitched well. 

Over a span of 1 month before the competition, Sohan looked for real-life problems and analyzed solutions that could be provided to solve them. He analyzed the solutions based on factors such as scalability, relatability, profitability, and finally shortlisted his idea.

“I had many internal conflicts and varying ideas. In such cases, I often resorted to taking external perspectives as they gave me an unbiased view which helped me structure my idea well.”, Sohan said when asked about his strategy. 

On the other hand, Amirthavarshini focussed on a well-planned preparation. She said,

“I worked on solidifying my idea and pitched it to a few friends and incorporated their feedback before finalizing its aspect. I also reached out to the winners from last year to understand what all should be included in the five-minute pitch and their overall experience. I then worked on my video pitch for a week, which was the most challenging phase. I had to retake around 50 times before I had a pitch that I was completely satisfied with.”

“TIC 2021 helped me give life to a solution”

TIC 2021 was a great learning experience for Amirthavarshini. When asked about it, she said

“I was able to give structure and life to a solution that was just an idea in my head some time back. It has helped me shape my idea to a stage where, if I get funding today, I am aware of where to start and how to go ahead to build my idea. Also, the opportunity to interact one-on-one with CXOs from various companies of the TATA group and present our idea was a major motivator.”

As per Sohan, the competition helped him gauge his skills. The Simulation Round helped him polish his business skills while his presentation skills were put to test in the Pitch Submission Round. The Leadership Interaction Round that he really looked forward to, gave him insight into the management styles of senior leaders. 

Any special moments?

For Amirthavarshini, the most special moment apart from winning the TIC 2021 was being featured on half a page in the Economic Times newspaper! She said, “It was a great surprise and a day to remember. I would like to thank the organizers for this sweet gesture.”

Sohan’s special moment was when he received the gift hamper even before the result was officially declared. When asked about how he felt about it he said, “The hand made chocolates and the watch which had my name engraved made it extra special and was symbolic of how much the TATA group appreciated our participation by going out of the way. I was elated.”

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