EMLYON Q+A

Avid traveller gushes about the perks of living in Lyon and amazing networking opportunities available at EMLYON

Debarshi Das

Where are you from?
I was born and raised in Calcutta, India.

What was your position before you became an MBA student?
Before my MBA I was working as an IT consultant in Western Europe for quite some time, mainly Belgium.

Why did you decide to do an MBA?
I had been thinking about doing an MBA for quite a long time. I’ve been in IT consultancy for a while now and I felt that I wanted to move forward in my career. I’ve always wanted to know more about business. Also, the networking opportunities that come with doing an MBA degree drew me to it.

What’s been the high point of doing an MBA at EM Lyon?
Everything has actually been really good! I’d say there are two things I enjoy the most. First, the human factor – meeting people from all over the world has been very interesting. Although I’ve had a lot of international exposure, it was really great working with my diverse classmates in such a close proximity. Secondly, the academic factor – the education itself has been really quite interesting.

You’ve spent a lot of time in Belgium and India, why did you choose France for your MBA?
Well, I lived in Brussels for a long time so I speak a little bit of French. I’m very interested in the French culture. I wanted to move out and immerse myself into a different country. I visited other schools but the people at EM Lyon were exceptionally friendly and helpful so it made the decision a bit easier.

What’s the best and worst part about living in Lyon?
Lyon is a fantastic city. I travel quite a lot and Lyon really stands out as a great place. It is situated in a location that’s very convenient if you want to travel to other places like the South of France and Switzerland. There are also lots of places to go out if you want to plan activities. As for the worst part.. I really don’t think there is a negative part about Lyon. I guess it could be cleaner!

Where do you want to live after your MBA?
It depends. I’m looking for opportunities in Europe, including France but it really depends on where the best career opportunities are for me.

I see you have also studied in India – how is the education system in India different from France?
I don’t know the education system that well, besides that of my MBA degree. In India, you have more pressure in earlier education. We don’t have any preparatory courses in India, whereas students here go for a one-year prep course before going to engineering school. Regardless, I’d say after a certain level of education, it’s all the same.

I see you’ve worked at Sony Pictures Home Entertainment – did you take part in any particularly cool projects there?
Most of our projects weren’t that cool as they were very technical. But one of the cool parts about working there was that we got to take home free DVDs!

You say you like to travel – where is the coolest place you’ve ever been?
Probably this one trip we did a couple months back to Cannes for the Film Festival. We decided to take a detour and took the national road to get there. By the time we were at the top of the Alps, we had seen all four seasons. There was sun and rain on the way up, then at the top of the Alps there was snow and even a hailstorm on the way. It was really cool. I would suggest it to someone who is feeling adventurous. Although the journey took over 12+hours when it was supposed to take six to seven hours.. it was well worth it!

Where is the next place that you want to visit?
I’ve already been to lots of places in Europe but I want to travel more in the South-east. Probably Greece or Croatia!

Comments

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Thursday 5th August 2010, 21.22 (UTC)

Nathan Portman

Debarshi i vissited calcutta last year. great home town. how did you wind up in belgium?

Thursday 5th August 2010, 23.38 (UTC)

Jen Ten

yeah i've heard education at top indian high schools and colleges is seriously pressured... getting into a good 'technical' college apparently really tough? actually it's pretty tough in france too... you've done well huh?

Friday 6th August 2010, 04.54 (UTC)

Debarshi Das

@Jen, in India i can say it is tough specially because sheer number of students vying to get into the limited number of good schools...:-)
@Nathan, Calcutta does have its own charm, specially as cultural capital of india...btw u should visit belgium too, u gonna luv the country:-)

Monday 9th August 2010, 02.23 (UTC)

Fabio Morella

out of interest - how do you ensure you get in to a top college in india if there are so many applicants? do you need connections? is it completly fair application proces?