Viswanath Anand

Viswanath Anand, India
Full-Time MBA Class of 2021
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Academic Roles, Achievements and Activities

IDBI half marathon finish – Proud moment for me as I finished in spite of twisting my ankle in the 2nd kilometer. A lot of resilience and the fact that it was my maiden run with my father made me see this through till the end.

What is invisible but essential about YOU? or ESADE? or Barcelona?

I spent most of my childhood in a foreign country, having moved to Abu Dhabi, UAE, when I was just 2 years old. Life there was blissful, and of course very comfortable. This was only possible because of the bold decision my parents took to leave the comfort of their motherland. Today, as I pen this down sitting in my ancestral village in Kerala, I realize how easy I have it, all thanks to my parents.

We would travel every year to India and would make it a point to visit this very ancestral village. To be honest, I wasn’t a huge fan of this as a kid. Having spent so much time in a city full of skyscrapers and cutting edge technology, this was a sudden and almost boring change. My grandparents struggled to make the world a better and more importantly an easier place for my parents, and my parents have done the same for me.

Growing up, I was fortunate enough to have been exposed to a wide array of diversity and culture, having traveled to 12 countries. While they were “vacations” as a kid, as I grew up, every visit was a learning curve, even if it was just a glimpse of what lies out there. Just over the past 7 years, since I have left home, I have lived in 3 different cities, each with a different allure and culture. I realized that with every passing year, I have become more adaptable and open to change. All of this has been possible only because of how I embraced change, and how I learnt how vital it is to stay grounded and true to my roots.

It is almost surreal that as I write this, I am going to embark on a similar journey around the same time my parents did when they took the decision to move to Abu Dhabi. Surreal or not, seeing the decisions my parents have taken have only emboldened me, preparing me to be more adaptable and helping me embrace change with open arms. As I prepare to begin this new, exciting journey with ESADE, I realize that you are only as strong as your roots.