Heman GanGal, a young, bright student, who completed-his engineering (B E Computers) from Alard CoE, Pune and his post-graduation from a leading management college, specialising in Information Technology (IT), has come a long way. In a candid conversation with Corporate Citizen, Heman spoke about his journey from the college campus to the corporate world
Today, Heman is successfully placed in the IT division, Functional Domain Consultant-Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) with Dell India Pvt Ltd. Heman was always inclined towards pursuing a career in the IT sector. While the going was tough, he still managed to achieve it.
“I did feel let down after being rejected from the previous three companies I sat for; however, I did not lose faith,” reminisces Heman. And when Dell entered the campus for its placements, in the same spirit, Heman gave his best.
“There was a group discussion, two technical interviews and one round with the HR team. Interestingly, I was the only one from my group discussion who spoke against the topic given to us—‘Will e-commerce sustain in India?’ I was later asked to explain in detail as to why I was ‘against’ and not ‘for’ this subject, even in my second technical interview. While the entire lot, including the seniors at the company, strongly believed that the e-commerce sector will sustain, I had my own reservations about this subject,” says Heman.
The selection process was tough, but Heman decided to prepare well and stay positive throughout.
“While the first personal interview round was a drill down to all the levels of education right from school to the MBA course, it focused more on Engineering and its application. The second round focused more on my internship project. I was confident and straightforward throughout. I was also well-versed with my internship project and my subjects studied during those two years of MBA,” notes Heman.
Heman did his internship at Tata Technologies in Pune. “It was a SAP SD implementation for Fiat India (following Fiat’s joint venture with Tata Motors) which consisted of three months of extensive training with hands-on experience on live SAP servers. I also had an opportunity to visit the Tata Motors plant in Pimpri and got to see the manufacturing of automobile parts up close,” he recalls.
Heman, who was born and raised in Mumbai, completed his SSC from St. Stanislaus High School, Bandra and HSC from St. Andrew’s Junior College, Bandra in Computer Science and joined the vocational batch. He was keen on specialising in the IT sector right from the beginning. Post his HSC, he completed his Engineering (B.E. Computers) from Alard CoE, Pune.
“While I had already made a choice of pursuing my master’s even before joining the industry, I was still undecided over choosing between M. Tech and MBA. My dad helped me draw a comparison table between the two, which made me think about my future career path clearly and take a decision,” recalls Heman.
Heman’s father is an entrepreneur, who runs his own financial consultancy in Mumbai, while his mom who is an MA in Economics with Honours, is a homemaker. Heman’s sister has done her BSc Statistics from Mumbai and MBA-Marketing from Pune and is currently working in Pune.
“My grandfather is my role model. I owe my success to my grandfather’s constant guidance and upbringing, my mother’s practical approach to life and my father’s constant emotional support,” says Heman.
“I love to read. In fact, it was my grandfather who got me into this habit when I was in school. The first book I read was ‘Hardy Boys’ by Franklin W.Dixon. Its timeless plots, endearing characters,and exciting story got me addicted to reading,” reminisces Heman adding, “I remember my grandpa taking me down to the book stalls in Fort and Flora Fountain, in Mumbai, every month and helping me buy as many books I wanted. I consider my collection of almost 500 books as one of my most precious things I ever owned.”
Heman also enjoyed reading other books such as The Famous Five series and The Secret Seven series by Enid Blyton. “Even during my lunch in school, I used to quickly finish lunch so that I could spend some time in the library. As I grew up, I continued to read in my leisure time. The last book I read was Deception Point by Dan Brown,” he says.
Apart from being a voracious reader, Heman also loved to be part of the event management team in college. “I somehow always enjoyed the thrill and teamwork while preparing for any event,” he notes. Heman also enjoys hosting events, anchoring and swimming.
“We got a lot of exposure to a lot of subjects in a very short span of time. We not only studied in-depth about our specialisation subjects, but also studied other subjects thoroughly to help us take on any kind of role in the industry. The induction process gave us an opportunity to groom ourselves and become in the real sense student managers and come out of the engineering shell that we were so comfortable in. We were also taught the UPSC subjects which would help us in the long run, if we wish to pursue as a career as a government employee and help understand and eradicate the problems in our society,” says Heman.
“Interestingly, I was the discipline coordinator of my class, with me being the naughtiest student of the class! I was actively engaged in managing various events in my college. It was a lifetime opportunity for me when I got to be part of the team that went to Dubai to attend the Asia HRD meet, this year. It gave me a lot of global exposure, helped me network with a lot of senior dignitaries from the corporate world and also helped me understand how to manage a global event with delegates from different parts of the world. Apart from work, we also enjoyed visits to Desert Safari, Burj Khalifa, and the Aquarium and the Underwater Zoo at Dubai Mall,” recalls Heman.
Talking about the faculty at college, Heman says, “The visiting faculty was of a very high calibre, very knowledgeable and experienced. They gave us insights on how our theoretical knowledge should be applied in the industry. All the trainers were very professional, who guided us on studies and making career decisions. My schedule at college was pretty hectic. I hardly got time for family and personal life. I got habituated to the routine of waking up at 6 am daily and scheduling my work to be done on time, and used to be completely engaged with my studies and college work throughout the day.”
Despite his hectic schedule, Heman managed to make friends at his campus. “I came across a lot of friends, who have been very helpful throughout my journey. These friends made in college will surely last for a lifetime,” he says.
Heman’s thoughts on the Indian education sector
“We got a lot of exposure to a lot of subjects in a very short span of time. The visiting faculty was of a very high calibre, very knowledgeable and experienced. They gave us insights on how our theoretical knowledge should be applied in the industry”
“The day you are waiting for will finally come... What matters more is the process through which you go in pursuit of that achievement and not that day itself...,” he signs off.
By Mahalakshmi Hariharan
