23 year old Anubhav Razdan won the elections for the position of Member Committee President of AIESEC India on the 30th of January 2013. Anubhav is currently the Regional Director for the South Region of AIESEC India and won the election standing against 4 capable candidates from the current Member Committee of AIESEC India and a Local Committee President. His application theme was based around the concept of “Transformation” and he envisions for AIESEC to transform the experiences it provides, these experiences then transform people and the people transform India.

Here is a candid discussion with Mr. President (elect), AIESEC India.

Tell us something about your Delhi roots, your educational background and family.

I did my schooling from Amity International School, Noida. After that, I went on to pursue a Bachelors degree in Business Administration from Indraprastha University in Delhi. I am ethnically a Kashmiri and my family consists of the mother, sister and grandmother. I had lost my father at a young age and it was my mother who brought up both me and my sister, with not many resources but very strong values. I have some extremely vivid memories of my younger days in New Delhi.

What are your interests and hobbies?

I like reading about global and national issues, technology, design and philosophy. I am very fond of sports – love to watch and play football and swim. Also, as is evident from my Facebook page, Travel & Photography are two passions that I’ve recently discovered.

What is your vision for AIESEC India? What would be your key role?

I can see a transformation – a rebirth of sorts – letting go of the past to strive towards a bigger and better future. My key role here will be helping our membership reconnect with their individual and the AIESEC values, to use them as an anchor for future actions and innovation.

What is the kind of leadership you think AIESEC India requires in the coming year and correlate it with your style of leadership?

I think AIESEC India and the world at large needs daring and value driven leadership. It is our individual and collective values which guide our actions. Once we identify a strong set of values, they can act as an anchor and at the same time propel us further to take risks & try new things in our journey through this organisation. AIESEC gives you the platform to take those risks, explore those new opportunities which progress the individual and hence the organisation forward. Nowhere else will we be presented with the option of doing the kind of things we do here, at such a young age. The only question that remains is if we take those options.

How is AIESEC India contributing to India’s development and future?

AIESEC India contributes to India’s development & future by providing individuals & organisations an opportunity to engage with our purpose. India as a country needs young people who don’t just talk, but take the initiative and bring about CHANGE. A continuous stream of passionate young Indians must go out and get things done – in politics, in social set-ups, in corporations, in education, in research, in medicine – EVERYWHERE. AIESEC India provides India with this breed of young Indians who have spent their formative years in an extremely dynamic and challenging organisation.

What do you want to do after AIESEC? How do you think AIESEC will help?

I want to work in the sphere of human capacity development and start my own enterprises – one of which will be a restaurant. I want these ventures to also present enriching employment opportunities for the urban poor.

Through AIESEC, I seek to become more independent and interdependent, by taking back a network of driven and committed individuals. AIESEC till now has made me a lot more confident, broad minded and entrepreneurial.

What is your parting message to our readers?

I would like to revisit what Charles Darwin had concluded that it is not the strongest or the most intelligent, but the most adaptable of species that survive. The world that we live in requires us to be constantly changing and evolving. It is here that the youth have a pivotal role to play, spearheading the transformation through their proactive initiatives.