The Indian Institute of Management (IIM) Ahmedabad has finalised the 2017-19 batch and has noted that it has acquired a very diverse batch with regard to gender, work experience and educational background. Some of these students have already achieved awards and recognition in various professions including film-making, sports and fashion.

“These are interesting times. The increasing diversity is a testament to the increasing relevance and acceptability of Management education and to the vision of the Director and Leadership of the Institute. It is extraordinary and enriching to witness a Rocket Scientist and a Miss India Elite engage in an argument in the same class,” said IIMA Students’ Affairs Council general secretary Mohammed Raafi.

Here are some interesting professionals who are now part of the 2017-2019 Batch.

1. Miss India Elite Akanksha Choudhary:

Winner of national peagent Miss India Elite, Akanksha Choudhary is a graduate of Shri Ram College Of Commerce with a bachelor’s degree in Economic Honours. She will also represent the country in the international pageant Miss Face of Beauty International in September 2017. She has joined IIMA to improve her skills and become an expert consultant who would “not survive but thrive”.

2. International tennis player Rashmi Teltumbde:

Rashmi Teltumbde finished her undergraduate degree from Texas Tech University in the US as BBA in Economics and Management in 2014 and has won 14 academic awards there. She has also represented the country in 3 junior Grand Slams (two Australian Open and US Open) and also captained the junior Indian Fed Cup team. She believes a degree from IIMA would equip and ensure her goals would be reached quickly. Read | IIM-A betters batch diversity in incoming batch of PGP, PGP-ABM programs, click here

3. UrbanThela founder and entrepreneur Anchal Taatya:

Anchal Taatya’s current start-up, Urban Thela – Superfood Company won the first prize in BYST (Tata Trust and IFCI organisation) B-plan competition. He was also awarded the Best All-Round student award at NITK Surathkal.

“I am doing MBA, because till now, I was running business intuitively, but I realized this is what I want to do for the rest of my life and it makes sense to have a strong technical foundation in business management,” says Anchal.

4. Award winning Cinematographer and Moviemaker CS Prakhyat

A self-taught Internationally acclaimed filmmaker with a diverse portfolio of documentaries, short films, music videos, advertisements and promo videos, CS Prakhyat has made 9 award-winning short films which have fetched him 17 International Film Festival selections, spanning the USA, UK, Canada, Slovenia and India. He decided to pursue MBA to learn how to manage a film crew better and to develop a marketing acumen to increase the outreach of his films.

5. Fashion designer Aditi Agarwal

Aditi Agarwal is a fashion design graduate from the National Institute of Fashion Technology (NIFT) and has worked with Chikankari, a native hand-embroidery firm in Lucknow under the brand of “Go Lucknow”.

“To pursue my passion, I decided to go for design, but I soon realized that formal management training was the needed for me to take my family business forward which is my ambition in future,” says she.