ABG’s widespread brilliance and dominance can be seen in every sector be it fashion, cement, cellular or aluminum. The groups presence can be felt at every nook and corner of the society. I also had my fair share of interaction with the groups brand at various stages in my life.
Among a long list of my connections with ABG, I had my first interaction with the company during early days of my childhood when pantaloons used to be the go to shop of the family. It provided everything ranging from ethnic to western, kids to semi- formal wear. When I needed formal wear be it for my work or my new start at an MBA college, Planet Fashion provided for plethora of options at an extended price bracket. I never had to think much for the quality due to the trust I had in ABG since childhood. ABG’s fashion and retail arm provides a mix of affordability and elegance, with different brands from Pantaloons to Louis Philippe each serving a different need and a different customer.
Its not only the fashion and retail arm of the ABG that played Big in my life. It’s the UltraTech cement that dearest to my heart. It provided solidarity to the foundation of our first home that we built with a lot of emotional devotion. It’s the trust of ABG that made us believe and take such an important decision without any fear or second thoughts. It made my house a haven for me. It has provided me with a place where I can always hide whenever I feel vulnerable.
Looking back I believe these are just two instances in a long list of moments where ABG proved “Big in my Life”. Taking inspiration from these small things that can play a big role in someone's life, I also had an instant where I tried to do something for the society.
At the time when I was doing my graduation, the area in which the campus was located had a flourishing Brick Kiln industry. Small children of the laborers working there used to pass their time roaming around and do some tricks in front of the campus to earn money while the grownups used to work in the Brick Kiln itself. A year or so passed by looking at them, with the feelings turning from getting irritated by their constant pestering to feeling pity for them. At that moment bunch of us realized that we should do something to provide at least basic education to these kids. With this thought in mind we started weekend school for these kids and arranging funds for the same was least of our problems.
The main issue was to convince the parents to let their children come to study and even if they agreed the participation ratio was way too low. So, we started with reading stories, providing food and clothes to those who come to attend the session so that we can generate their interests in the session. As there were children of every age group with different levels of education the next challenge was to segregate them according to their education level so that proper care can be provided. Our idea was to get them at a level so that they can be admitted in to main stream schools. For this we connected with several NGO’s that can fund their school related expenditure. And there came a time after close to 3 months when we stopped distributing chocolates and stuff but still the enrollment didn’t dip.
I feel really happy and proud whenever I think of this small contribution of mine towards society.