There are a few small things that give a person the satisfaction that they have achieved something. For me, the clothes that I have bought over time have helped punctuate the various milestones of my life.
It was in the year 2014 when I selected for an exchange program in Stockholm. Having always worn Indian attire, I was lost as to what clothes to purchase for the stay in Sweden. A friend of mine suggested me to go to Pantaloons, and said that they had a good collection of western wear. The Allen Solly formal shirt I got there gave me a sense of achievement. It was when I purchase the shirt, which it hit me that I am one of the only three students from across the university to be selected for an exchange. The exchange program in Sweden had a huge positive impact on my life, both professionally and personally. When I look back now, the exchange program chapter of my life began when I got the Allen Solly shirt.
Next came the shift to employment. The Forever21 dress that I got for my team party gave me the happiness that I have finally reached the corporate world that I had always dreamt of entering from childhood. And when I cracked the CAT and was joining MDI, the Louise Philippe trousers and blazer gave me the sense of achievement of joining one of the top 10 B-schools in our country.
On the personal front, the major impact I feel I have had is in organizing an event called Anandha Deepavali. In that event, we brought 1250 differently-abled and orphaned children under a single roof, bought new dress according to their personal choice (stitched them when required), brought in celebrities to entertain them and spent the whole day with them. I consider is my biggest achievement because it was the first time I had organized an event of such big scale and it had a lot riding on it as it was also a fundraising event where our corporate sponsors participate. I coordinated the event from scratch. We bought all the clothes required for the event from Pantaloons again. As Pantaloons have all the variety of dress the kids wanted and in all required size, the work of buying clothes for kids which usually takes 2-3 weeks was finished in just 2 days. And as Diwali sale was happening at that time, we could save on the clothing budget and distribute boxes of sweets to kids, thereby bringing them more joy.
There is a saying in Tamil that says, “Attire makes up half the person and personality makes up the other half”. My mother always tells that dressing up well gives a lot of self - confidence. The various clothing brands that ABG has, has helped me build that self-confidence and has been instrumental in creating a brand for myself- what I feel I want to be.