Shobha Wagle (PGP 1980) & Sanjay Dalvi (PGP 1979)
Shobha Wagle completed her B Com from Sydenham College, Mumbai and joined IIM-A in 1978. There were only five girls and over 150 boys in her batch. As she was getting used to the idea of staying away from family for the first time, the academic pressure of IIM-A hit her. She was struggling to complete her first WAC assignment when there was a knock on her door. On opening her door, she was horrified to find an unknown PGP-2 boy who threw a bucket of water on her. She did not know at that time that this was a life-defining event for her. A few days later she went to see the annual PGP-one v PGP-two cricket match and found the same boy who drenched her (Sanjay Dalvi of PGP-two) belting the ball around the field. Sadly for the PGP-twos, Sanjay got out soon thereafter and sat on the side-lines chatting with Shobha who started off by berating him for the WAC night episode.
Shobha was smitten with Sanjay from that moment on, and unknown to her, Sanjay had fallen for her with a thud that shook D-15.
Throughout the academic year, they were often spotted together at the Mess, the Retreat and at ATIRA movies. With liquid bolstered self-confidence supplied by Sartaj (who had “defense” connections in Ahmedabad) and “fragrance supplied by Sharp (who had the habit of substituting the daily shower by liberal applications of perfumes), and egged on by Venkatesh from D-15, Sanjay proposed to Shobha on the LKP. To the dismay of a few other boys, Shobha happily said yes. Sanjay and Shobha were “placed” even before placement began.
Shobha and Sanjay got married in 1980 after Shobha’s graduation. Sanjay worked in Madura Coats for over 25 years and Shobha completed her PhD and joined academics, working in different countries where Sanjay was posted.
Shobha and Sanjay have a son and a daughter. Their daughter Rashmi followed in the parents’ footsteps, joining IIMB, and married a batchmate – they are based in Bangalore and work in the e-commerce space. Despite encouragement, their son refused to go to IIM-C (and marry an IIMC batchmate) and went to SDA Bocconi and is now an Investment Banker in London.
After 37 years together and counting, Shobha and Sanjay live in Pune and assist S P Jain School of Global Management in their student selection process and also mentor a couple of start-ups.
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