As a kid, I was a huge fan of the “What an Idea, Sirji!” advertisement series. After watching their ‘India – Overpopulation’ ad, I used to take my parents’ mobile phones to my bedroom, for want of a younger sibling. I also wanted to be taught through a mobile handset after seeing an underprivileged kid becoming the Student of The Year in one of the advertisements. While my unsullied mind can be forgiven for not understanding the social implications behind the advertisement, the ad series did take root in my heart and was my first unknowing association with ABG and Idea.
My bond with ABG runs during the most satisfying moment of life too. Upon receiving my first stipend, I wanted to buy gifts for my family, which would convey my gratitude towards them, without overshooting the budget. Not giving it a second thought, I went to Pantaloons which in the past had offered me unparalleled options that were both fashion-forward and in-trend. My father, who is generally very picky about his clothes, was overjoyed with the Peter England shirt. My mother who has more clothes than she can possibly wear, regularly wore the Akkriti suit I gifted her, to her workplace. The matching Ajio sweatshirts for my brother and sister-in-law, encouraged them to go for early morning jogs.
I’m a self-confessing tea enthusiast, who can’t go without having 5-7 cups in a day of this holy elixir. Nothing goes better with tea than biscuits and this makes me look forward to the monthly 15% discounts on any 5 biscuits purchased that my local “more.” store offers which always makes me come back for more.
It still blows my mind a little thinking about how these were all ABG offerings all along and it has opened me up to the idea of how seemingly unrelated brands can impact life in little ways and add up once you start thinking about it. This was a big reason for me to get interested in business as I really appreciate the positive impact conglomerates like ABG have on people’s lives with these little things.
I started preparing for MBA entrance exams during my third year of engineering, upon realizing that is where my calling was. I put my heart-and-soul into the preparation, letting go of major recruiters to join a premier b-school. Having attached myself too much with the result, not valuing the knowledge I gained while preparing had a negative impact on my mindset. Having failed to convert any of my targeted b-school I was dejected and lost hope for a while, only to restart my preparations with the same amount of zeal. Another setback lay in front of me as I fractured my writing hand while playing cricket, two months before the exam season. My study plan lay in distress as I wasn’t able to give any mocks or make any notes. Rather than getting bogged down by this, I saw it as an opportunity to improve my mental calculation and critical thinking. While the start was extremely intimidating, things got a little fluent as I started breaking my progress into smaller milestones. I put in all the more effort to reap the benefits during the exam and eventually land up in IIFT. My journey, mixed with incessant failures and scattered successes taught me to enjoy the little processes rather than focusing on the end result and to treat disappointments as stepping stones to success.