Most MBA journeys begin with discontent. Mine began with passion.

With a GMAT Focus Edition score of 685 – a score that many would call “modest” in the Indian applicant pool and an unconventional pivot from product engineering to filmmaking, I had my fair share of doubts while writing my M7 applications. How do you convince the world that Cannes and CoWIN belong in the same essay? That stepping away from a billion-user tech product wasn’t recklessness, it was purpose?

Courtesy Photo, Ananya Chandra

The Bold Step Away from a Rising Tech Career

In 2019, I made a decision that left many of my peers puzzled. I stepped away from a high-growth product leadership role at Flipkart. I was leading one of India’s largest Android teams, impacting over 500 million users, driving e-commerce growth at scale  and yet, I chose to walk away. Why? Because I felt the pull to do something I had always loved- telling stories.

From managing code releases, I found myself managing script discussions. From writing product specs, I began co-writing screenplays. I co-wrote Rocketry: The Nambi Effect, which premiered at Cannes and won a National Award. I worked as an Assistant Director on Colonies in Conflict, a documentary that made its way to global film festivals such as Rotterdam, Seattle, and more. Sitting in a theatre in Europe, watching a film I had helped bring to life unfold on screen, I felt the same impact I once felt at Flipkart but through a different medium.

The Return to Public Platforms  and a Bigger Question

Even as I explored cinema, I continued contributing to engineering projects that mattered. One such project was CoWIN, the backbone of the world’s largest vaccination drive. That duality: tech for public impact, and film for emotional storytelling kept enriching me. But I began to wonder: Do I have to live two parallel lives forever? Or is there a way to integrate my curiosity and creativity into something bigger? That’s when the MBA came into view. Not as a detour. But as a bridge.

The Application Puzzle: Making Cannes, CoWIN, and Code Make Sense

Knowing why I wanted an MBA was the easy part. Explaining it? That’s where I needed help. With a non-traditional profile and a 685 GMAT, I needed my story to carry real clarity. When I found GyanOne. On my first call with Rishabh, I brought everything: the film sets, the Flipkart metrics, the CoWIN impact, and my doubts. “How do I fit all of this in a coherent narrative?” I asked.

Rishabh smiled. “You’re not here to fit in. You’re here to connect the dots on your terms.” And that’s what we did.

Reframing, Not Just Editing

We didn’t start by editing essays. We started by excavating my truth. Why had I really left Flipkart? What made cinema so powerful for me? Why did I return to product work with such conviction? Slowly, my story emerged: I was always a platform builder. At Flipkart, I built tech that scaled. With CoWIN, I built trust. Through film, I built stories that moved people. Different tools. Same instinct. GyanOne helped me structure that instinct into a coherent leadership narrative. They helped me avoid two common traps – underplaying filmmaking (“It’s just a hobby”) or overplaying it (“It defines me entirely”). With their guidance, I found balance.

The Interview: Finding My Voice

When interview season came, I was candid. Sometimes too candid. We worked on letting my authentic voice come through — focused, but still full of heart. I didn’t memorize my answers. I owned them.

The Admit and the Realization

Despite the odds, an unconventional journey and a 685 GMAT, I received admits from multiple top B-Schools. Including Wharton, with a scholarship. The very things I feared would appear “unfocused” became my differentiators. Adcoms didn’t see contradiction. They saw range. They saw someone who could code, create, serve, and lead.

What I’ve Learned

Diverse doesn’t mean scattered. You don’t need to cut off parts of your journey to fit an MBA mold. With the right framing, your passions become your power. For me, the MBA isn’t a return to tech or a goodbye to filmmaking. It’s a bridge between the two — a way to scale ideas that can move hearts and change systems.

And if there’s one message I can leave others with, it’s this: Don’t wait for permission to follow your passion. If you know your “why,” the world will catch up. It always does.