‘My college days were wonderful due to the fantastic faculty’

He passed out of Apeejay Stya University (ASU) with a Bachelor’s degree in Electronics and Communication in 2016. But interestingly, Pranav Kaler today is a senior business development Associate at AshmarIP, working in the legal services industry that focuses on all aspects of intellectual property rights like patents and trademarks.

“After I passed out of ASU, I went to Bengaluru for my internship. I came back to Delhi and gave a few interviews. Back then BPO was booming and there were plenty of jobs in this field. While I was not interested in this type of work, I still went for a walk-in interview at Okhla realising that the job was somewhat related to engineering, and gave it a shot and here I am. I have been working in this domain for the last six years,” Kaler said.

Excerpts from an interview.

How has the journey been for you to date?

It has been one hell of a journey. I was born in Uttar Pradesh but the family shifted to Delhi in 2000. I completed my schooling here. A couple of years later, we shifted to Gurugram and have been here for the last 16-17 years. Everything in life comes with ups and downs; the same has been true professionally. There are a few big highs and a few lows. But I took these as part and parcel of learning.

How did you end up studying at ASU?

There is an interesting story behind this. We were living in a rented apartment and the son of one of the neighbour’s is an alumnus from ASU. When he came to know that I was looking for a college to study Electronics and Communication, he recommended that I look at ASU as well. He said that after YMCA University in Faridabad, ASU was ranked No 2. He also told me that the faculty is good and it would be a good place to study and open lucrative opportunities.

How were your college days?

I had gone to the city office and had seen the ASU layout there. I wanted to check out what it looked like and where everything was. I was told that I could visit the campus as well. But I decided against it and waited for the first-day first impression. Unfortunately, on Day 1, it was raining and we were stuck inside with orientation, etc. I felt there was no way I could study here, so I decided to look for another college. But something kept me at ASU and I would say the four years were really good.

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I would say that my years at ASU were good due to the good set of friends that I was able to make. Back then, in my batch, there were only 12 of us. Sometimes, we used to feel as if we were sitting in a tuition class

–Pranav Kaler, Senior Business Development Associate, AshmarIP

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The best part of my college days was during the fests. Every year, on Day 1, the tent that would be put up would fall. It was a given that the tent would fall; it had become a joke of sorts.

Did you happen to make a lot of friends?

I would say that my years at ASU were so good due to the good set of friends that I was able to make. Back then, in my batch, there were only 12 of us. Sometimes, we used to feel as if we were sitting in a tuition class. This was because the majority of the students had opted for Mechanical Engineering. It was only in liberal arts class would we have a room full of students.

How was the faculty at that time?

They were great. The way they taught was wonderful. Parikshit sir (he was our HoD) and because of him we were able to complete our degree. Then there was Jindal sir, I can recall his first class after the break on Computer Science programming. The caustic remarks he made were a great way to kick-start the day.

I was in touch with Parikshit sir till last year because I was looking for some students who had done communications. But I learnt from him and many of the faculty had left since there had been very few enrolments.

Did you get your first job through campus placement?

It was a campus placement. I had for the interviews that had been set up. It was a rapid-fire round and most of us didn’t even know whether the companies for which we had interviewed were relevant and matched our degrees; we just went for it.

I was clear from the start that I had to go to Bengaluru for my internship. After that, I worked at various places and my present job is my sixth.