IIM Indore Director Himanshu Rai Shares Life Lessons From Humble Beginnings

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posted on 11 months ago — updated on 1 second ago

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Himanshu Rai did electrical engineering at NIT Karnataka. After this, he got a job opportunity at Tata Steels in Jamshedpur, where he worked for eight years.

An individual with enough spirit and passion for realising their dreams can overcome any challenge. Such is the case with a distinguished professional who graduated from the esteemed Indian Institute of Management (IIM) in Ahmedabad and later on also ascended to the position of Director, IIM Indore. His journey exemplifies the transformative power of hard work, perseverance, and a positive mindset.

Himanshu Rai was born in the small village of Kataura in the Deoria district of Uttar Pradesh. He was born into a humble family, and he spent his early life in the village itself. Due to his limited income from farming, his father, Rajendra Rai, started working in the Ordinance Factory in Kanpur, UP. Due to limited resources, he used to live in a small room with his parents, brother, sister, and even some cousins.

But he always wanted to do something big and started focusing on working hard in life. He studied well and did electrical engineering at NIT Karnataka. After this, he got a job opportunity at Tata Steels in Jamshedpur, where he worked for eight years. While he was in Jamshedpur, he was actively involved in social activities like mountaineering, quizzing, theatre, etc.

Himanshu Rai once revealed that his maternal grandparents had been his biggest source of inspiration. They were displaced from a village in Pakistan and settled in Kanpur at the time of partition. His great-grandparents were quite well-read and had achieved a lot of degrees in Sanskrit. While he was in Kanpur, he used to spend his time with them, which led to his interest in reading, writing, and the philosophy of the Vedas.

Once, while reading a book, he got the idea to appear for the CAT exam. Fortunately, he cleared it and got admitted to IIM Ahmedabad. There, he also completed his PhD. After completing his PhD, he joined the academic sector and became a professor at XLRI, Jamshedpur. After this, he continued teaching at IIM Lucknow for ten years.

But his journey didn’t end there. He was later selected as the Dean of the India Campus of Bocconi University of Italy. He remained in this post for two years before joining IIM Indore in 2018 as the Director.