Shelly Shaurya

Shelly Shaurya, India
Full-Time MBA Class of 2023
LinkedIn

Professional Roles, Achievements and Activities

Achievements:

• NTSE (National Talent Search Examination) Scholar, awarded by Govt. of India
• L.B.L Jain award for excellence in sports and studies, awarded by St. Stephen’s College, Delhi University
• College blue (three consecutive year) and a special award for cricket, awarded by St. Stephen’s College, Delhi University
• Captain of Delhi cricket team (u-23 and u-25)
• Amazon no.1 best-seller author
• Awarded a literary award for my book Green Line
• Awarded “Blue tie” for excellence and consistency in studies and “Red tie” for excellence in sports, awarded by DPS RK Puram

Activities

• Played cricket professionally for over 14 years, and played in the IPL (Indian Premier League) and Ranji Trophy
• Getting among top 30 cricketers each year by BCCI and training in National Cricket Academy
• Started a foundation
• Writing books

Academics

• MBA Batch of 2023, Esade Business School B.A Economics (Hons)
• St. Stephen’s College, Delhi University

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

I believe there are three types of invisible but essential traits within myself. They are effective time management, venturing new areas and my perseverance. I’ve been pursuing multiple things at a time. It was probably because I had many passions, and I didn’t want to pick and choose. From a very early age, I realized that managing my time and allocating a certain time to each activity will only get me through all of them.

In school, I used to divide my time in such a way that helped me achieve “age quod agis”, which roughly translates to “do what you are doing”.

I could represent my school in various math and science competitions, sports competitions and at the same time play cricket professionally. I loved studying and playing sports right from childhood. Getting awards from the school every year for performing in school or getting a national scholarship from the Govt. of India or representing the Delhi cricket team happened just because I was focused and managed my time to do all these activities and dared to take up the challenges.

As I grew up, it was only later that I realized that these invisible traits or intrinsic qualities are helping me get into the grooves of the things I chose to do.

Even while playing in the IPL (Indian Premier League), one of the biggest international cricket tournaments in the world, I could not detach myself from academics. I worked on different assignments related to natural resources. Time management has helped me pursue my different passions. It’s a common misconception that if you have a schedule, and then you lead a mechanical, single-dimensional, boring life. It is actually the other way round. You can dare to enjoy many things with a schedule, try many different things, and grow in many facets of life.

Because of my travels, I could try my hands-on photography and developed a good knack for wildlife photography. Later on, I researched how to manage natural resources better and come up with green jobs. I started a charitable foundation to work on various projects to uplift rural and tribal communities in varied ways. To bring attention to the unique Ladakhi Bactrian camel or to revive the National School Sanitation Initiative are some other areas I have ventured.

I feel my life took a new turn when I represented India at the United Nations Conferences, presenting and talking about my ideas and theories on combating desertification and ensuring climate change mitigation. All of this helped me write books. I was never a “writer”. Even now, I don’t feel like one. But that didn’t stop me from just trying it out. And now I can’t stop writing.

To learn further the art of management and establish sustainable global businesses, I thought of pursuing an MBA, and I’m happy to land at Esade, which is one of the best in the world.

People sometimes think it’s a ‘Veni Vidi Vici’ situation for me. But the truth is far from it. My invisible but essential traits of grit, dare to act, and efficient time management has greatly helped me in life. This is something I’ll be banking on while pursuing my MBA at Esade and life beyond it.