Life is tough. You don’t realize that until you face an adversity. But it’s meant to be that way. A better analogy would be comparing it to a game. You sail through the earlier parts, enjoying it, thinking how easy it would be to complete the whole thing. But then you level up, and it hits you hard, striking harder every time you complete a challenge. Life is a notch higher than that as there is no reset button, no second chances.
I vividly remember my 3
rd year of engineering, sitting in a corner of the library, in a single cubicle, pondering on the uncertainties in life. I had taken up too much on my plate as always, preparing for placements, balancing my academics and gearing up for my CAT, the one thing I was waiting to do in life. Again, life had levelled up. So I was left hanging with my GPA at 8.41 a semester before my placements with an 8.5 being essential to at least get shortlisted for every dream company. I decided to take up the challenge head-on and see what it takes. Increasing your GPA in the 6
th semester is certainly not a mean feat to do. So there I was, putting in 14 hours at a stretch in the library, distant from everyone for 5 straight months and focusing on the task at hand.
Story cut short, I earned a GPA of 9.7 to make my final CGPA to 8.6, and getting placed at Barclays India, among the first ones on campus. Just when I thought I had it all sorted out, everyone came up to remind me about the MBA Keeda I always talked about and how I was ignoring it now that I’m in my comfort zone. Began yet another story of challenges, taking my MBA exams along with some hectic work at Barclays and finally getting into the prestigious IIFT.
There’s one thing I have realized about life. It is indeed a rat race, and as long as it exists, I want to be the fastest one around.
How ABG has played a significant role in my life
Fact check : You always get nostalgic, not from the biggest, but with the smallest, sweetest childhood moments in life.
One such moment for me was getting ready for school, with our cute uniforms and our mothers shouting at us at 7 in the morning to buck up. You go to the kitchen, only to check what you are going to get for recess in school, and the mesmerizing whiff of fresh, hot parathas with Aloo ki sabzi being packed into the FreshWrapp foil hit you, and you get ecstatic and have the best start to the day.
Growing up as kids, when it was time to refill our tiny wardrobe with one cute pair of shirt and jeans during Diwali, there had been only one choice to make in Nagpur, it was either Planet Fashion or Pantaloons. Now that I realize both of them are part of the Aditya Birla Group, it makes me proud to even jot down my feelings for such a heritage that has served happiness to a million families for 162 years now. The excitement and dreamy eyes with which I used to open the packing of the shirt on Diwali, not fretting about anything in life and confidently knowing I would be the most good looking kid out there, is second to none.
This is what Aditya Birla Group symbolizes for me, creating my most cherished childhood memories, without even realizing it.