Season 1 Finale - Deepak Mehta | IIMs, Education System | 5X Quora top writer | The Takeaway Club™

Originally published on: 19/Sep/2020 Originally published at:https://www.thetakeaway.club/deepak-m... The season finale of The Takeaway Club™ exemplifies what this podcast is about – deep, candid chats with interesting, super inspiring people. In this marathon, 3-hour chat, Krishna chats with one of the most popular Quora writers of all time, Deepak Mehta. Deepak has over 167,000 followers. has written ~4000 answers on the platform on every topic under the sun including Indian society, Comics, Politics, Economy, Education system, Marriages, World affairs. Deepak did his undergrad in computer science at BITS-Pilani, Goa, and went to do his MBA from IIM- Ahmedabad. Known for his critically researched, no nonsense style, his ~4000 answers on the platform have been read over 100 million times and he has been awarded the Quora top writer for 5 years straight between 2014 and 2018. His articles have been published in a number of global media houses including HuffPost, Forbes, Apple News, CNN, Business Insider, The Independent, Yahoo among others. At ~3 hours, this is the longest episode on The Takeaway Club™ so far – a personal milestone that couldn’t have been pulled off, if not for Deepak’s patience and enthusiasm throughout. While the episode length might seem daunting unless you are an ardent podcast fan, I promise once you start listening to Deepak, that will be the last thing on your mind and you’ll be left wanting for more. While the entire conversation was like a minesweeper, filled with lessons and takeaways, I was really amazed at Deepak’s perspective on society, stereotyping, and the principle of marriage that really strikes a chord in the current climate. Episode Guide: Deepak - His journey so far 00:00 – 04:55 – Who is Deepak Mehta? 06:00 – Catching up – What has Deepak been up to? 12:15 – Breaking down Deepak’s answers’ strategy and learning 16:00 – On context switching 22:00 – On time management 27:20 – How transformative was IIM-A? 35:20 – Looking back: Was MBA culmination of management passion or the next logical step? 42:10 – On lessons learned from his dad 51:00 – IIM D-day 01:02:30 – How was the IIM interview experience like? 01:09:00 – Pitfalls of the interview system Deepak - Thoughts and Perspectives 01:15:40 – On favorite books 01:22:00 – On comics and superman 01:24:00 – On how reading changed his perspective 01:28:00 – Fascination for the Joker 01:39:00 – Silver lining from COVID-19 01:51:00 – Education System 02:07:50 – Marriage System 02:21:00 – Instances where Deepak Mehta was on the wrong side of things 02:30:00 – Thoughts on penning a book 02:33:00 – Random Deck: Thoughts on 80-year-old self, a message for the world, reversing the table Note: Though it would be unjust for me to pick a portion of the conversation as a ‘highlight’ and would absolutely recommend giving it a full listen, if you are on an absolute time constraint but would still prefer to enjoy the conversation, here are some of my personal favorites that really left me awe-struck: How transformative was IIM-A for him personally? (27:20) His relationship with his father where he reminisces a defining moment at a shady bar after his IIM results (51:00) His thoughts on the Joker character – his knowledge and the amount of thinking that went into understanding a comic character left me stumped (01:28:00) His thoughts on the Indian educational and marriage systems and the instances when his perspective on things was wrong (02:07:50) I sincerely hope you find some invaluable takeaways from the conversation. Deepak currently writes at: deepakmehta.blog