These IITians quit lucrative jobs to pursue their dreams, passions
What's the story
The Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs) are the country's premier engineering institutes reputed for producing graduates of outstanding caliber who often land jobs at the top global companies. While most students at these institutes dream of landing jobs with fat pay packages, there are some IITians who gave up lucrative jobs to pursue their dreams and follow their passions. Here are five such IITians.
#1
'Ironman' Saurabh Aggarwal left Flipkart to pursue adventure sports
Saurabh Aggarwal, an IIT-Delhi alumnus, is an endurance athlete who quit a lucrative job at Flipkart to pursue adventure sports. After leaving Flipkart, he did paragliding, skiing, mountaineering (2012-13), completed Ironman Triathlon in Sweden (Aug'14), attempted to climb Mt. Everest (2015), and finished La Ultra marathon (2015). He co-founded Fitso fitness and training app in 2015. In 2018, he also received Ironman Coach Certification.
#2
Nitin Saluja's passion for 'tea' made him leave his job
Nitin Saluja is an IIT-Bombay graduate who quit his job to pursue his passion for tea and later founded the country's popular tea cafe chain, Chaayos, in 2012. He pursued BTech in Mechanical Engineering from IIT-Bombay. He had also co-founded Think Labs, a robotics company, with some friends in 2005 and later worked with Opera Solutions in the US and Delhi until 2012.
#3
Divakar Sankhla quit corporate career to pursue passion for teaching
Divakar Sankhla is an IIT-IIM alumnus who quit his corporate job to pursue his passion for teaching. He had pursued BTech from IIT-Madras and MBA from IIM-Lucknow. Sankhla worked with top companies like PepsiCo and Citibank India before a Teach for India fellowship, which eventually led him to launch the Alohomora Education Foundation for children that he co-founded with Parinita Jain in 2014.
#4
Saurav Arya left his high-paying job to travel
Saurav Arya is an IIT-Kharagpur alumnus who gave up his over eight-year career in operations and business development to travel. He pursued BTech in Mechanical Engineering from IIT-Kharagpur. After quitting as Vice-President (Business Development) of MakeITDeals in 2014 he traveled in search of "creative freedom, fulfillment, and spiritual growth," according to Officechai.com. He later founded Impressive Infographics, a Bengaluru-based visual marketing firm, in 2015.
#5
IIT-B grad Suhani Mohan's passion for improving menstrual hygiene
Suhani Mohan, an IIT-Bombay graduate, who was working as an investment banking analyst at Deutsche Bank, quit her high-paying job to work on increasing access to high-quality, affordable sanitary napkins. In 2015, along with IIT-Madras graduate Kartik Mehta, Mohan had launched Mumbai-based Saral Designs that focuses on designing products to provide access to low-cost menstrual hygiene products, especially for low-income women.