Interview with Aashiya Khan, TYBMS Topper 2013, SIES College (Sion West)

I’m passionate & always enthusiast about learning new aspects in life. I feel fortunate to be associated with S.I.E.S. College, Sion – West, where: “Learning is a Joy Forever”.

My college has inculcated many good qualities in me. Here the professors are always approachable for guidance, just a phone call away even late night, with contemporary research study materials & management fundamentals.

Also, my batch of BMS class mates has been very supportive emotionally & academically in case of any qualms.

Aggregate%-  81.16 % (Aggregate)- 1^st Rank

6^th Sem – 81 %, 5^th Sem- 81.33%

Project Grade-  ‘O’ Grade

Electives chosen in Sem 6 – Retail Management

Fondly known as (name) in the college group – Aashu, Topper

Did you take Coaching? If yes, which classes?

Yes, I did take coaching for 2 subjects (Operations Research & Logistics) from Navigator Tutorials (Sion).

Extracurricular activities/Hobbies/Achievements –

• Received the “BMS Excellence Award” at Welingkar Institute, for being 17^th Rank holder amongst top 100 colleges in Mumbai for the T.Y. BMS – V^th Semester (Oct 2012) from BMS.co.in

• Columnist (Cosmic Karmaa – Horoscope) for the SIES college newsletter: “SKYLINE” since May 2012.

• Awarded with the SIES College prize for securing highest aggregate marks in S.Y. BMS.

• Received the scholarship for meritorious academic distinction in F.Y. BMS and S.Y. BMS.

• Achieved 2^nd position in the “Product Launch” as a Marketing Management Assignment, organized by Rotract Club of SIES.

• Successful participation in JA Titan competition organized by Deloitte India in February 2012.
• Successfully completed the ISE (Inter-connected Stock Exchange Of India Ltd.) course on “Capital Market- 2011” with 84% marks.
• Won many academic and extracurricular awards in inter school level  Quiz, Olympiad, Elocution, Collage, Social Service, Chess and Sports events.
• Enjoy Travelling, Listening Music, Dress Designing, Websites Designing and Photography.
• Successful participation in MTV Scooty Miss. Teen Diva – India, Fact – Universal Teen pageant and Fact Miss. Teen India Reality shows.

Ambition in Life:

My aim in life is to be a successful Marketing Manager and lead the way towards Chief Marketing Officer in the corporate industry.

Post BMS, I would be pursuing Brand Management in a renowned corporate house for a period of two to three years.

Later on, I shall pursue MBA-Marketing (Brand Management) from a reputed institute in India. Moving then to again join the corporate ladder and outshine the Marketing world with all my learning’s and experiences.

Most memorable moment in BMS –  

• Getting an admission to study BMS in SIES College was my dream as a student, since my elder sister also studied here & she was a state level subject topper in Psychology (Arts).
• Also, I have wonderful memories of industrial visits to International destination: Malaysia & our Indian land: Kutch (Gujarat) where I had experienced first-hand industrial learning’s along with my faculties & friends.
• Project Product Launch: Achieved 2^nd position in the “Product Launch” as a Marketing Management Assignment, organized by Rotract Club of SIES. More than the achievement we loved the preparation part, doing market survey, getting raw materials & being a tarot reader at product launch which grabbed maximum audiences.

• Celebrating Birthdays of our college BMS faculties, Principal & my beshties in various innovative, funky & surprise party was the best part of celebration.

• Receiving the “BMS Excellence Award” at Welingkar Institute, for being 17^th Rank holder amongst top 100 colleges in Mumbai for the T.Y. BMS – V^th Semester from BMS.co.in

Funniest thing you did in the BMS course –

There were many such funny incidences during my BMS course.But the most funniest was, once there was a rally held on eve teasing against women & I wasn’t aware of the dress code so, I wore a jazzy pink t-shirt while others were wearing black t-shirt. I was outstanding in this crowd & was feeling embarrassed but then it added to one of the funniest memories as the odd one out & centre of attraction.

Define BMS in 1 line: My BMS = (B)est (M)anagement (S)upport from SIES College.

1)    Which factors were considered in mind while selecting the Sem 6 Electives/Optional subjects?

Since, I was clear that I want to get into marketing profile & Retail is booming in India with the recent FDI, I knew that Retail management would prove beneficial to me in the long term so I chose this elective.

2)    Did you use BMS.co.in for your exam preparation? Which sections of BMS.co.in helped you?

Yes, BMS.co.in was very much helpful with recent updates, articles & alerts. It truly proved beneficial for me.

Under “BMS GYAN” tab – Case Examples, Exam fundas, Notes, Question Banks from various renowned professors & classes and Solved Papers proved to be very useful for me during my examinations. This source of information was very reliable & useful too.

Alerts tab always kept me updated about various important announcements from Mumbai University.

3)      How do you feel to be a consistent topper in both Sem 5 and Sem 6 exams?

My academic success itself was very much motivating for me and Sem-II onwards my dedication and dream reached great heights.Each time I was amongst the top 3 rank holders and my friends gave me a nick name “Topper”.

It’s simple in life or academics always have a “SMART GOAL” which can be accomplished with a SMART methodology (Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic and Time bound).

I always aim to exceed and excel my goals each time and strategize   accordingly for achieving it.

For any subject, it’s important to have a firm understanding about the basic of the subject. I “Learn & Unlearn”, that’s the mantra to my success. The more you understand, hypothesize, experiment and relate studies with the day to day life instances, learning becomes simpler and more process oriented. Unlike the misconception of “Ratta Mar”, I feel the more we learn, unlearn and again reseal with reality, learning is permanent and more valuable for lifetime.

I appreciate the constant boosting & support received from all my faculties Prof. Archana Sanil, Prof. Anita Agrawal, Prof. Avin Shah, Prof. Mustafa Sapatwala and many more who always guided me the best path to success.

Also, I would like to sincerely thank my mother who had taken lots of efforts to make my life stress free & spiritually blissful along with her healthy food & guidance. Also, my sisters Aasifa Khan & Aarifa Khan who have always been there to clear my doubts if I had any during examination or otherwise. And lastly, my friends Tanmay Mehta, Ojas Barve & Jessy Fernandes who kept on motivating me constantly & resolved all my queries when so ever required.

4)    Behind one topper are many people who stood by him/her during those uncertain times when he/she was merely an ‘aspirant’. Would you like to tell the world, who were those people in your case? Any specific incidence that you would like to share with the readers?

My family, faculties & friends have been my enduring power of motivation throughout my BMS course.

It’s very natural for anyone to get tensed for board exams. Even though I was prepared, I would still get worried.

My faculties always guided me, wished me luck & had faith in my hard work & dedication. Also, my best friends Tanmay, Ojas, Jessy, Jasveen knows that I get worried during examinations but they all kept me motivating throughout the examination days and even after exams, till the day of my result. When the result came out they shouted “bola than na tu hi top karegi!!!” (Memorable memory). They all had confidence in me more than myself, that I would again top in 6^th Sem too.

5)    What is your message to the aspirants?

I would say: “If there is a will, there is a way”. Moving from Arts domain to Business Management has not affected me greatly. In fact, it has added more artistic zest in learning business.

Initially, in Sem – 1, moving from Arts to Accounts and Statistics was a little impediment for me, since the batch was mainly from commerce and science background and I was very new to accounts, but with my hardship, constant guidance from professor, my classmates and coaching classes, I managed to score 75% (5^th Rank).

I have seen that at times Arts students get demotivated since they are from non-commerce background in the BMS course. They feel that they cannot score well in practical subjects like FM, OR, IF & other accounts related papers.

So, my message to all aspirants would be, do not get demotivated even though if you are from arts background initially it might be a little struggle with accounts but with constant practice, success is bound to follow.

My result is in front of you. So, ye toh bass nazariye ki hi baat hai…!!

6)    What was your study plan?

Every subject is equally important and therefore part of BMS course curriculum. Practical, Theory, Presentations, Project work or Fieldwork all are the gamut of various fundamentals in practice.

I was doing specialization in Retail Management, so learning’s from current affairs, external environment such as political reformation on FDI – Retail, financial & economic development, International Marketing gave me a new practical thought process for my studies.

A balance of theory lectures and practising practical subject should surely support good academic understanding & results.

Subjects Name – Source of your preparation

OPERATIONS RESEARCH (OR)- practice practice & practice !!!

INTERNATIONAL FINANCE (IF)- Practice enough, so that you can assure your 25 marks  for sure. The remaining theory is quite technical including history and other minute details of market. So you need to understand this subject from financial business point of view.

INDIAN MANAGEMENT THOUGHTS AND PRACTICES (IMTP)- Quite interesting though some students think it’s boring. But if you learn with interest then I am sure it will enhance you personally as well as you can score well.

INTERNATIONAL MARKETING (IM) – Marketing is all about Consumers, Innovation, Benchmarking, Promotions, etc. Whereas International marketing is a wider concept which covers International arena.

Entrepreneurship and Management of Small and Medium Enterprises (E’ship)- One of the simplest subjects which students enjoy learning with fun.

RETAIL MANAGEMENT (ELECTIVE PAPER) (RM)- One of my favourite subject  as every female loves shopping. I visit various shopping malls & this subject excites me a lot as everyone can relate to this subject very well.

7)    Marks of every subject

OPERATIONS RESEARCH (OR)- 89 Marks

INTERNATIONAL FINANCE (IF)- 89 Marks

INDIAN MANAGEMENT THOUGHTS AND PRACTICES (IMTP)- 84 Marks

INTERNATIONAL MARKETING (IM)- 73 Marks

Entrepreneurship and Management of Small and Medium Enterprises (E’ship)- 71 Marks

RETAIL MANAGEMENT (ELECTIVE PAPER) (RM)- 80 Marks

Sem 6 Total – 486/600.