A 12-year-old boy about to give his final exams, surrounded by his peers and worried about how will his paper be, will he be able to score well? And taking all the worries of the world. Suddenly, one of his friends asks him whether he has studied a particular portion in the subject and the boy is quaking in his boots. All his fears are coming true, he is imagining all the horrors that he will have to face, all the embarrassments, all the scolding and what not. There are just 5 minutes for the exam to start and the boy did not read that particular portion, and there is high probability that questions will come from that portion. The boy closes his eyes and thinks of one reason that will give him the confidence to face this petrifying exam and this naive 12 year old looks at the talisman that his mother gave him, thinks of the curd with sugar that he had in the morning, the “prasad” that he had in the morning, he stands up mildly believing that some thing will make all the gods work for him and that questions wont come in his question paper. Guess what? the questions didn’t come and he actually did well in the exams.
Cut to the year 2019, the same boy prepared for MBA entrance exams and got interview calls from several premier B-schools. First interview, the boy walks in the room of candidates with a simple shirt and pant. Surrounded by people, who all were dressed in proper suits and the boy sat there, losing his confidence realising the fact that the interviewers may perceive him as a non-serious candidate and he may lose out on this opportunity. The boy starts listening to what other candidates are talking about and they were talking about their work experience and their achievements, the boy comparing himself to them hits rock bottom on his confidence and ruins his interview. The first thing that the boy does after the interview is buy a suit from Peter England (P.S he got it at a very good discount) and the second interview that he gives he does great, and then the third interview also went well. Now, this is the same boy that believed in talismans and prasad and not that he still believed in them but coming from a religious middle class he still had that 12-year-old child in him who wanted one more reason in between those hundreds of reasons which were stopping him from giving his best. However naïve this may sound this boy had to wear that particular suit to the interview or he would feel incomplete. Obviously, it was not the only thing, but sometimes it’s a little ray of hope that may uplift you and help you to give your best and even if that hope is a superstition it is worth it. The suit assured him that he is serious about the interview, made him believe in himself and most importantly reminded him that he is as good as any of the other candidates out there and he just needs to project himself in the best way just like the suit is projecting him in the best way. As Peter England’s Tagline says “
Beginning of Good times”, it was indeed the beginning of good times for the boy as he got into Symbiosis Institute of Business Management, Pune. As you must have figured out, this was my story and this is how Aditya Birla Group impacted my life.
I was the publicity coordinator of my college’s fest and to promote my fest using minimal expenses we came up with a unique idea of collecting money and donating it to an elderly home in our locality. The primary function of our campaign was to come into the papers to publicize our fest. Initially we faced a lot of difficulty in collecting fund and eventually we did. The best thing about the whole process was that when we donated money and accessories to the old age home each and every smile that it brought was a bundle of joy for me. We spent the whole day with them and it was probably one of the best days of my life.