The year was 2014. After completing my engineering from a private college in my town Bareilly I was shifting to NCR to start my corporate life in the city of Gurgaon. The new city, its surrounding, culture and society was so different than what I experienced in my hometown. I knew to adjust in this new atmosphere and society I need to mix up and go along with the new people I meet here.
IT corporate culture has its own flavor. You just not only need to talk or behave like them but also dress up like them. Craze for different branded clothes till 2014 had not much penetrated in tier 3 cities like Bareilly but in Delhi or Gurgaon it did not matter whether the quality of clothe is good or bad; only brand name qualified. As a person who always preferred quality rather than brand I was looking for a clothing range which did not compromise on neither of them, but which was in affordable range for an IT professional.
It was at this time I came across Allen Solly clothing range from Aditya Birla Group. Great design clubbed with comfortable fit and high quality hooked me in. After buying and using few shirts and trousers for a month I also tried other products offered in the Allen Solly Range- Wallets, Belts, blazers, Shoes, jackets etc. It soon became my go to brand. For formal or casual events Allen Solly offers a range of products with a cool Stag logo which reflects cool yet assertive individual. The one which can switch between the role of the fun-loving humorous guy you meet at a party or a corporate employee which knows how to stand apart from the rest. The very me kind of person.
Five years later now I am pursuing my post-graduation, but the infatuation and love for the brand has not faded a bit. It’s a still a brand which mixes quality with coolness with perfection.
“Fall down seven times, stand up eight”. A simple yet a deep proverb because the courage, patience, ability to bear hardships while being focused on your goal is what differentiates Men to Boys.
The kind of spirit which King Leonidas showed against Xerxes. Not to bow down or give up. Not everyone in the world is born as King Leonidas so that he can fight against Xerxes and become immortal in history but everyone in their own life at their own level must struggle to achieve their ambitions. The best part of such stories is that no one will ever know about it, no matter how strong or how great they have been. They will just fade in time. But when you die it will not matter whether Leonidas defeated xerxes or not; what will matter is that how you faced your problems or struggles in life and whether you succeeded or failed. Make life a story that is worth reading when you die.
For me the biggest challenge of my life was to clear my third attempt of CAT. I got good percentile during my first attempt but was not able to get into any top tier college. The second attempt was a shocker with me securing 89 percentile and stopping any chance of going to a top bschool that year. The third attempt of CAT was my last attempt.
Not cracking CAT for second time brought a load of problems and lessons. Few of my friends who made into B schools made fun and looked down at me for failing. It was a daily ordeal. My office colleagues were also not exactly supportive and few of my family members also started to doubt my abilities. Limit was crossed when fights with people were redirected away from the original topic to my being unable to crack CAT. This made me very angry and depressed from inside with a feeling of vengeance eating me up.
I decided to not let go waste of this anger and focused all my negative energies to study for CAT so that I can prove myself and forgive all those who spoke ill to me during my bad time since the real power is not to retaliate when you get the power, it is to forgive and move on. I used to study 9-10 hours a day. This CAT was me proving more to myself than others that I have the potential. This time hard work paid off. I made to IIM Raipur realizing that I might not be King Leonidas, but I fought my own battle Thermopylae to achieve my goals.
Chat
Comments