The Family Called 'IIM Shillong' | Nikhil K Jain

It’s my 7th day at the campus in clouds and the rain-gods have already started to show why they are the mightiest in the north-east. Being new to the “hostel life”, I feared that getting unwell would mean a bigger deal because I wouldn’t have my parents with me to fall back on. But when a Bangalorean boy meets the chilly weather of Shillong, magic and cold does catch up. I fell caught cold and fell sick. Nothing big, but definitely something I dint want during my very first week of college. I had my reservations, like everyone else, about the idea of relying on others to take care of me.

It had been nearly 27 hours since the rain had started and didn't look like it would end. I wore the thickest jacket I had- something which makes your look older exponentially, and when to my class. I brushed through the people and went ahead and sat on my seat, looking down for most of the time. The classes began and I was clearly not in the frame of mind. At a time when I thought no one actually cared about me there, a voice came up and asked me “Are you fine?” and I felt a strange connection with everything that was happening.

Almost all of my class made it a point to visit me in my room and help me with anything they could. A few wrote my assignments for me and a few bought me food and a few just told me that it is going to be okay. Suddenly it didn’t fell like I was away from my home, my seniors, my batch-mates, teachers and even the support staff had transformed into one big family which was right there for me. I don’t know about other B-Schools, but what made this place special for me was the environment of compassion and convivial which it has in its soul. In my opinion, the greatest organisations of the future, a future where human abilities will be augmented by technology and artificial intelligence, will be those which will be co-operative and collaborative and not those which will foster competition and rat-races. In this sense IIM Shillong is truly creating leaders of the future.

A family away from family, a place where everyone stands by everyone, a campus which is truly imbued by a soul of compassion this is what makes my institute the best there could be.

Which ABG company would you like to work for and why?

Fashion and retailing has always been an art of fascination for me. When I was a small boy, my mother used to take me with here to the local markets of Chickpet in Bangalore. The hustle and bustle of these markets made me feel the passion of selling. When I saw the first Pantaloons store at the Mantri Square in Bangalore I was both intrigued and curious to see how selling could be made a luxury. The whole experience of shopping was redefined for me!

This childhood fascination with retailing and especially that of fashion, makes me want to work at the Aditya Birla Fashion and Retail Ltd. I believe the innovation of ABFR and the value systems of ABG will be a great foster for my passion for retailing.