An Unposted Letter Of Gratitude #IIMTrichy

Many years ago, in a small town in Chhattisgarh(then Madhya Pradesh), was born a baby girl, and every person in the waiting room had tears in their eyes. Her parents cried tears of joy, her aunt had mere tears. She was not so thrilled about a girl in the family. Her aunt was raised in a village, where girls were not seen as achievers, but liabilities who needed to be married off as soon as they graduate. Thankfully, her parents didn’t share this opinion. They had only love for their daughter, all her joys were their joys, all her dreams were their dreams. Fast forwarding to when she turned 4, her mother gifted her the prettiest frock she had ever seen from Pantaloons, Kolkata. It was a huge day for the little girl. She had never seen a frock so beautiful, of such a pretty design and pleasing colour, in the small town she lived in. Needless to say, Pantaloons from that day became her go-to store for buying clothes, accessories and even shoes and footwear. It’s 20 years later, and even now the green Pantaloons sign in any mall, at any corner of the road, puts a wide smile on her face, brings back memories from the past. A few years later, when her parents had to leave her alone for the first time and fly out to another state due to a medical emergency, the girl created a havoc. She used to call them more than 15 times a day, and the terrible network or the high roaming charges weren’t helping either of them. Her parents had to buy a local Idea sim back then, and then finally some both their hearts found some peace. The little girl grew up to become an engineer, and for her first job interview, wanted to buy formal wear, but there were no formals available for girls in her town. Van Huesen in the capital city of Chhattisgarh came to her rescue then, staying silently by her side, giving her confidence. With her first salary she gifted her parents the prettiest decors for their home, the most beautiful salwar suits she could find and a dashing kurta from her favourite store in Pune. She even gifted her aunt a saree, that left her teary-eyed once more, but this time with different emotions.   Her story is long, and the part Aditya Birla Group played in that is huge. Some brands are not mere brands. They become your identity, your confidante, your best friend, and in a way, a part of the small rituals of your family. Aditya Birla Group has forever played that role in our lives and has celebrated with us throughout our joys, comforted us in tough times, touching our lives, emotionally. Such brands can only be thanked and such Aditya Birla Group delivers emotions which can only be felt and experienced.

Challenges overcome to achieve ambitions in my life

I was brought up in a town, filled with engineers, and students aspiring to be engineers. Bhilai, a town put on the map because of Bhilai Steel Plant has some of the best educational facilities in our country. On every hoarding in every street is the ad of an institute promising to provide the best training and tuition classes for IIT JEE, AIEEE etc. I did my schooling from Delhi Public School, Bhilai, and was always a decent or a good student in my class. I really enjoyed the core subjects, Mathematics and Science and was always appreciated by my teachers. However, I got a big shock, when I  couldn’t perform well in IIT JEE and AIEEE, something that shattered my confidence and started developing fear in me. Even though I enjoyed engineering thoroughly, I was always aware at the back of mind that this is not something I love. I was always more of a creative person, and after working for around one and a half years, I decided that I want to pursue MBA, put my creative skills to work in a professional environment. Explore and discover myself in a completely new field, and define my own path. It was a major decision and somehow because of my past results in IIT JEE, I was very scared of taking this step forward. All my colleagues very vocally expressed their doubts about my decision, and inside me there were two persons fighting and judging whether or not, to risk everything, a stable job, a friend circle which was more like a family, a comfort zone that I had weaved myself into. I decided to listen to the soft voice saying to take the risk, and came back home to start the preparations in May, for CAT exam, held in November. I had a lot at stake, a lot of insecurities and a lot of doubts in my own self. But I didn’t give up. I started with scoring 29 percentile in my first mock, and step by step, motivating myself, being my own hero, I managed to clear CAT, and get into IIM Trichy. It was not easy, as I had, personally, no else competitor except myself. I had to convince myself that I could do it, to fight with my own negative thoughts and create for myself an environment that self-nurtured, instead of self-criticising. Like Paramhansa Yogananda said in his book, The Autobiography of a Yogi, – “the dual scales of Maya, that balance every joy with a grief!” It was very true for me too, but I chose to see it the opposite way. Our challenges, our sufferings, our grief however unpleasant at that moment will always be balanced with a joy, a sense of satisfaction, in the end. Turning my mindset from a broken and negative one, into a healing, positive and loving one, was the biggest challenge I have faced, that I continue to face, and that I continue to tackle and emerge victorious from.