IIM-A incubates love stories as well

AHMEDABAD: They are among the top brains in the country but when it comes to matters of the heart, many students of Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad (IIM-A) are lucky to find their true love while studying on the campus.
At IIM-A’s 50th convocation held in March this year, Ajay Banga, president and CEO of MasterCard and an alumnus of the institute said that the institute possesses the “alchemy for matchmaking!” Banga was referring to his own experience at IIM-A, where he first met his wife of 31 years, Ritu Banga.
“This school gave me a great education, a family. I met my wife here and that meeting produced a lifelong partnership that is the bedrock of my joy and happiness. It also gave us the most precious gifts of all—our two daughters. So, not only does IIM-A rank among the world’s elite business schools, it also possesses the alchemy for matchmaking,” Banga said.
Other well-known alumnus of IIM-A including Chetan Bhagat, Harsha Bhogle, Bharti Gupta Ramola also found their respective spouses while pursuing business administration degree at IIM-A.
“In the last four years, I have received so many wedding invitations from students who were dating while studying at IIM-A. It makes me happy that IIM-A is not only getting its students plush jobs and hefty pay packages but also life partners,” said a faculty member, who did not wish to be named.
Biswajita Parida, who is pursuing her PhD from IIM-A currently, met her would-be groom Priyadarshan Gupta, an IIM-A graduate of 2014, while on campus. The couple is set to be married in June 2015 after Gupta’s parents met Parida at his convocation last year. “It was difficult to convince my parents as we belong to different castes and states but I was very clear that I will not marry a stranger. The crowd at IIM-A is filtered, has similar aspirations, are likeminded and have a different mindset from the mainstream. That is why people prefer getting a match here as compared to going out in the market,” said Parida.
Students give credit to the beautiful, red-bricked campus for its no-interference policy. “As compared to any other campus, there is a lot of privacy here to explore each other. The relations between a student and professors are very professional and the institute does not interfere in anyone’s personal life. The campus plays a vital role in bringing people together,” said Parida.
According to sources, live-in relationships are common on campus. “When I was a student, there were about 12-15 female students in my class of 180 and most of them found grooms from the batch or married seniors,” said Nayan Parikh, of the 1981 batch and president of the IIM-A alumni association, Gujarat.