From Siemens to the Streets of Patna: The IIT-IIM Graduate Who Chose Purpose Over Paycheck

Some decisions are not made by the mind, but by the heart. The only difference is — the mind says, “Bro, what are you doing?” And the heart says, “Just do it, man — it’s time to do something of your own.” Shashant Shekhar’s decision was exactly like that.

Everything was going perfectly —He studied at IIT Delhi, then IIM Kolkata, and later got a ₹1 crore job offer from Siemens in Germany.A typical “parents’ dream fulfilled” kind of story.His parents were proud, society was impressed,and friends teased, “Bro, now you’ll enjoy chocolates and moonlight both — abroad!”But suddenly, Shashant quit it all.He simply said, “Now I want to do something for my own people.”If an ordinary guy had said that, people would’ve thought, “He’s lost his mind.”But since it came from someone with an IIT and IIM tag — everyone took it seriously.

Politics Calling…

Shashant returned to Patna Sahib.People asked, “Why did you leave abroad?” He smiled and said —“There, I had a job. Here, I have a purpose.”That’s how his journey from corporate to constituency began.He joined the Congress Party, and now he’s contesting elections from patna sahib vidhansabha.

His slogan?

“Talk about development, not caste.”

Yes, hearing that in Bihar’s politics is like hearing a lullaby in a haunted house.

Now his office isn’t a glass-walled, air-conditioned floor —it’s the lanes of Patna, where even the dust speaks, and people ask —“Babuji, you’re the IIT guy, right?” He spends his days meeting people door-to-door,and his nights planning — how to install solar lights in every ward,how to train the youth with new skills. He says ,

“Here, every vote is like an Excel sheet — fill it correctly, and the result will shine.”

Sometimes it feels like Shashant’s move is like someone leaving Netflix to start a show on Doordarshan except, he’s not here to raise TRPs,
he’s here to fix the signal. He left his Siemens job and now walks among the people, where every meeting doesn’t end with a PowerPoint, but with a Power Cut. And yet, he says —“This is the real ground reality, my friend.”

Shashant’s story reminds us sometimes, the biggest risk is simply listening to your heart when it says,

“Go, just do it.”

Not everyone can leave a million-dollar job to enter politics,but those who do teach us one thing —that the value of a dream isn’t measured in dollars, but in depth of heart. Reading his story, you realize —he’s still an engineer,just that now, he’s building roads to people’s hearts.

And if he wins,
Bihar’s politics might see its first MLA who truly understands both a Budget File and an Excel Sheet.

And if he loses…
there’ll probably be a new post on LinkedIn
“Didn’t get elected, but built connections.”