There’s more to Rajani Nair than meets the eye.On one hand, she’s a career-driven businesswoman, pursuing an MBA at Hong Kong’s CUHK Business School after five years blazing a trail in India’s male-dominated car-making industry.
On the other, she’s a trained magician. In her native India, she’s performed conjuring tricks and illusions over 20 stage performances and on live TV. She’s also a celebrated artist; her watercolor paintings recognized nationally and winning over 250 prizes in state and district level competitions.
Rajani is a woman of many talents. But for now, her focus is business. At Indian car-manufacturing giant Tata Motors, she led a team of engineers and drove technological development, even securing a patent for one of her innovations.
Determined to take her career to the global stage, she relocated to Hong Kong for her MBA, profiting from CUHK’s Women in Business Scholarship which awards 50% off tuition fees for high-potential female business leaders.
Rajani has founded a 60-strong consulting club at CUHK and wants to go into management consulting in Asia when she graduates next year. She’s well placed to do so. 96% of CUHK MBA grads are employed within 3 months of graduation, 87% within Asia. And CUHK’s top consulting employers include McKinsey, Bain & Co and Accenture.
What are your plans for the future?
I’m looking for a career in management consulting after my MBA. I’m driven by the desire to make an impact and I see myself as a business leader that can contribute to society.
I still do magic tricks today, but haven’t given any stage performance in the past years. I might consider doing a stage show for my MBA colleagues if I can find enough time to practice!
How has your experience in magic prepared you for a career in business?
Learning magic helped me develop my personality, confidence, and my ability to react spontaneously to unforeseen situations.
With magic, you influence the minds of your audience to believe in the idea of the reality projected before them. And stage shows gave me a real platform to practice influence; to be in control and gather the attention of a crowd.
Have you ever had a magic trick go wrong?
With magic there is always the risk of your trick failing unexpectedly. In one trick, I was supposed to magically create whatever a person from the audience chose from a hotel menu, which included anything from drinks to dishes needing hours of preparation time.
I was already prepared with what I wanted to force the person to choose. Unfortunately, the trick failed and the person opted for beer instead of milk. It was a funny experience and I had to convince the person to choose something else from the menu, explaining the negative side effects of alcohol!
Why did you decide to pursue an MBA at CUHK?
After five years at Tata Motors, I could sense my career taking a turn into a managerial role and I felt the need to broaden my horizons, gain global exposure and business knowledge. I found Hong Kong particularly interesting for its significance as the trade gateway to China.
CUHK stood out because of its reputation, ranking and the generous scholarships on offer. And the friendly admissions staff supported me throughout the application process. The program met all my expectations and I went for it.
What should applicants think about when deciding to do an MBA?
Have complete clarity in your goals before you decide to do an MBA. Knowing who you are in present and who you want to be in future will help you make the right choice of business school, and get the most out of the program.
What makes Hong Kong an attractive location for MBAs?
The open and welcoming culture of Hong Kong has been very helpful. In India, it’s hard to conceive the idea of meeting up with unknown people in your field, sharing your ideas and learning from their experience, but it’s quite normal to do so in Hong Kong.
Plus, Hong Kong has a more active lifestyle. Surrounded by hills and natural beauty, there’s lots to explore and lots of activities to engage in.
How have you profited from your MBA experience so far?
It’s been an amazing experience! The MBA gives me opportunities to test my leadership skills and create greater awareness of my strengths and weakness.
I’m also benefitting a lot from the multicultural student community. We share, learn and benefit from each other’s experiences. And we understand how to work effectively as a team.
Student Reviews
One of a kind
I studied Bioinformatics at CUHK last year. It was the only Master's degree in Hong Kong in this field. This program developed my analytical skills and equipped me to be a Bioinformatician in a very practical way.
I enjoyed my year here and met classmates from different parts of the world. If you are thinking to enhance your profile, this degree program would be a good option.
general education courses, unique college system, large campus
The university facilitates multi-dimension and interdisciplinary learning. In social science faculty, we need to choose courses as our faculty package from other departments (architecture, psychology, sociology, etc.) to learn more than our major required courses. We are also required to finish general education courses, which aid our critical thinking and humanistic sensibilities. I do recommend the social science broad-based program, and the professors I met so far are all responsible and erudite.
LLM
The faculty of law is relatively new. You do not need to have a LLB to pursue a LLM, which is special. The taught programme is great for mature students who want to obtain legal knowledge.
CUHK has good teaching staff too.
Amazing Campus and Great Educational Environment
Not only is CUHK's main campus breathtaking, it provides for a good educational environment for students. The university is well-equipped with modern and up-to-date facilities to help students with their study. We have 8 libraries in total around the campus; one for media, one for architectural studies, the medical library and the law library. The Professors are always helpful and are happy to talk to students when needed.
Moreover, the college system within the university brings forth the uniqueness of CUHK. Each student belongs to a different college, and in that students are able to meet different peoples from different countries and students from different faculties.
I think CUHK provides for a well-rounded university life for all students.
exthrillating
One of the most down to earth places in HK. A great opportunity to learn and embody the local culture. Also had one the most beautiful campus in Hong Kong up on the hillside. Glad to have graduated here.
Innovative and Supportive
My university provided me with all the support I needed, and encouraged me to be up to date with all the new developments in the world. They also provided me with the incentive to excel at what I do, and they take much pride in my achievements. I have had a very rewarding university experience.
Small, New But Friendly Law School
To being with, I think the campus of CUHK is the best and the biggest in Hong Kong, with fresh air and trees everywhere.
I am an undergraduate Law student at CUHK and I think the teaching here is great, with very friendly and nice professors and the new Lee Shau Kee Building.
In terms of the courses offered by CUHK, as one of the largest universities in Hong Kong, CUHK is an all-rounded university, offering a wide range of courses to students. Students may take the introductory courses of discipline other than their own major, or even declare a minor.
For law electives, due to the small amount of intake, the variety of law electives are not that huge. However, the Faculty is offering some international programmes, which can be treated as law electives, but at the same time, provide us with an opportunity to travel and know more about the legal system of another country.
The career support from the Faculty of Law is also amazing. The Faculty will organise CV Sessions and talks on how to get an internship from law firms or mini-pupillage from barrister's chambers. Each student will also have a Distinguished Professional Mentor, which is a current legal profession, providing us with practical advices and updates of the legal field.
Finally, from my personal experience, I think the students in CUHK are friendly and genuine. As Law students, competition is inevitable for grades, GPAs, vacation schemes and training contract. However, I think the competition in CUHK Law School is a positive one, in a sense that help us grow together, instead of fighting with each other no matter what. That is the biggest reason why I am having a very good time here in CUHK Law School.
A place to explore your interests
As a law graduate from CUHK (both undergrad and post-grad), I realise that I had many opportunities to explore my areas of interests (legal and non-legal both). The faculty/university requires us to take a certain number of non-law electives, and offers a plethora of courses to choose from. Personally, I took 3 modules in Korean --I can't say it's made me highly proficient, but it's definitely given me a good foundation (I can walk into a Korean restaurant and confidently order food, at the very least). The fact that language courses are offered also provides students who are more financially constrained an opportunity to learn a language without having to shell out a premium for a decent language course. On top of that, we have a range of law electives as well. I know of classmates who have developed lasting interest in different areas of law because of the electives they took in school. The two electives that I would say have changed me is (i) mooting and (ii) family law. I think my experience in an international commercial arbitration moot competition has helped tremendously in formulating legal arguments and legal writing. On the other hand, taking a family law elective has made me very interested in the family law practice, especially in terms of child rights. For these experiences which I have gained, I'm grateful for the opportunities provided by the school.
One main issue most students I know have is with the way our GPA is calculated and the lack of transparency in terms of how the honours system works. As our GPA is marked on a curve. it's highly unrepresentative of what we have achieved as individuals. Given that our GPA is the only criteria that is looked at when we apply for the compulsory post-graduate law course (mandatory should we want to practise law and/or be trainees in Hong Kong), it will put our own students at a distinct disadvantage when we compete for limited spaces with students from schools where GPA is not on a bell curve.
Valuable time in CUHK
I like the learning environment and people at CUHK. Surrounded by hills and Tolo Harbour, CUHK provides a balance between nature and hustle. You can always escape from the busy study life and meet your friend around the big campus for different activities.
