"I want to highlight the role of serendipity - in terms of three incidents. I was asked at Ahmedabad, if you think about a career choice, what will you become? 'I have a confession to make here. I said I want to be the Governor of RBI'," Rajan said in an event organised by IIM-Ahmedabad (Mumbai chapter) here tonight to felicitate distinguished alumni of the top business school.
"The first act of serendipity was when I applied to MIT," he said, adding when the top notch research university refused to accept him into PhD programme, he wrote back saying, "I am a poor Indian citizen...There is no way I can pay for the PhD. I would like to come but..."
To his pleasant surprise, Rajan received a letter from MIT a few weeks later, saying there is a scholarship programme and the institute would like to consider him.
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He said career progression is not a linear path and one should follow his heart and enjoy the journey rather than only aiming to achieve his goal.
Meanwhile, answering a question on corruption during interaction, Rajan noted that it is a complex problem, which is an outcome of a host of factors.
In an apparent reference to Aam Aadmi Party, which has made corruption its core philosophy, Rajan said, "there seems to be belief on the good man's theory...All you need is to put a good man in that place (and everything will be fine).