Surabhi Sundarka, FTMBA student 20/21, launched her Instagram page Humans of Business Schools last year. Read below to hear what inspired her to learn more about the people behind B-schools.
"One of my earliest memories has been of my grandmother narrating stories every night when I lived with her. She introduced me to the world of stories and dramatic sagas, primarily on Indian mythology featuring gods, demons, and mystical creatures. When I look back, I realize how I was too young to understand the deeper moral she tried to embed about good v/s evil, life v/s death, and everything in between, subtly nuanced in her art of storytelling.
As I grew older, I was drawn into the beauty of discovering non-fictional characters from the author's lens, exploring various genres. Even before I knew it, I began writing stories. Over the years, I realized that I also enjoyed meeting people from different backgrounds and learning more about their personal experiences. I used to extensively follow the famous picture portrait page of 'Humans of New York.' It made me realise the comfort people felt in talking to a stranger, who would be interested in their experiences, without having any biases.
When I moved to London for my MBA at Imperial, I got the chance to interact with fellow students, faculty members, board members, from all walks of life and was intrigued by how everyone had a unique story to share. I was motivated to use this chance to go beyond the usual networking prevalent in the B-School culture which is directed mainly towards enhancing career prospects. Every seemingly ordinary person had an extraordinary backstory which I found truly inspiring. Coupled with my keen interest in interviewing, writing, and finding a way of truly connecting with people, I decided to start with 'Humans of Business Schools' (HOBS) as an endeavor to build a platform where anyone who has been of the Business School community has the opportunity of sharing their story with fellow B-schoolers.
As a trained classical dancer, I was taught that humans emote under an exhaustive arch of the ‘nav-rasa’ or ‘nine-emotions,’ which summarises the limited moods humans experience. Often I question myself, what can I write that hasn’t been written before? How can a story have elements which captivate a reader without being repetitive? The answer lies in the diversity of the B-School community. Every student is handpicked through a tough process to represent a truly global population which enhances the probability of a refreshing take on every narrative.
So far, HOBS has a presence on Instagram, an application that is highly popular among the B-School audience and functionally supports the requirements of short-form storytelling. The most rewarding aspect of this has been the trust which my interviewees have shown in sharing their journeys with me and believing in my ability to narrate them authentically. There have also been situations where I have had conversations with people who wanted to share their experiences with me without wanting to be published. The fact that my audience feels comfort in discussing their struggles, goals, and aspirations with me is extremely satisfying. What more could a writer ask for?
While a picture is worth a thousand words, I wanted the page to feel alive and the audience to see a snippet of my interviews. I decided to include short videos of my interviewees sharing one piece of advice that they would give to someone. The idea was to not just read about the person but also learn what their unique experiences have taught them, in a food-for-thought style. The page was introduced in October 2020 and my pursuit has since been to present compelling stories covering sensitive topics to normalise discussions around the same.
HOBS began as an exploration of what I wanted to carry back from my B-School experience but has slowly turned into a passion project for me. And like any other art-form, hopefully, my passion for writing, and HOBS, will find their destiny."