Not Just A Multinational Conglomerate, But Also An Inspiration - That’s ABG For Me | MDI Gurgaon

In the race to achieve success and being handsomely paid, one often turns a blind eye to the deep rooted problems within our country and society. While growing towards success is good, growing together with everyone around us is much better. And this is one of the most important principles in my life. Which is why I decided to do my part for the upliftment of the society by starting my own NGO.

The idea behind starting this NGO was to reach out to underprivileged and helpless people who are not only ignored by the society but even by other social organisations due to lack of sufficient information and locations of these families. Needless to say, there were a lot of challenges in my endeavour to start this mission, the first of which being gathering a team of like-minded individuals. A social startup is one such thing where one can’t expect much in return but have to put in a lot of dedication and hard work, and hence to find people like these was a difficult task. I met and conveyed my idea to many of friends, family members and colleagues, some were enthusiastic but yet skeptical to join in, but at the end of it all, I finally succeeded in building up a core of 10 members who were equally inclined towards the work we were going to do. And from here the actual work began!

Initially, we decided to start working in two sectors, namely, Education and Food Welfare. As mentioned above, our goal was not just to reach out to people who are easily reachable but actually find out people who are genuinely in need of help. Hence, we decided to conduct surveys in the remotest parts of the slums of Mumbai. And this is where we faced our second biggest challenge. Finding out places to visit and moreover, people who genuinely need help wasn’t easy, our survey form consisted of basic details like no. of family members, income, sources of getting food etc. to help us identify such people. Soon, we started getting the hang of it and could reach out to many people through various contacts. And finally, we would conduct our food donation drives consisting of basic staple food items which could last for a month. We also started conducting educational and informational sessions for kids and youth on topics like personality development, dental hygiene, menstrual hygiene, by approaching doctors and professionals to conduct them.

Although, I have a lot bigger plans to go out there and help develop the society, right now, I am quite satisfied with the progress we have made in just one year. With monthly food donation drives for 100+ families living in remote slum areas, and conducting 3-4 monthly educational sessions, I believe we are on the right track, yet a lot to learn and a lot to explore to finally fulfill my dream to build a society where everyone at least has the basic requirements like food, water, and education!

Why ABG Is Big In My Life

Right from building houses with UltraTech to building our images and attires with brands like Van Heusen, and Allen Solly, ABG has been a part of everyone’s lives in some or the other way. ABG brands like Pantaloons make shopping a wholesome experience with trendy family clothing. But for me, ABG is something even greater than just brands, it is an inspiration!

For young social entrepreneurs like myself, ABG is something I look up to for its immense contributions to the society through a myriad of CSR activities it conducts. Being an MBA student, I always wondered how to excel professionally while contributing to the society at the same time, and ABG demonstrates just that! It is amazing for me to see a brand so big involved in social activities not just in one sector but almost in every way possible to develop the society. Be it sustainability projects, educational initiatives for girl child and competitive exam preparation programmes, medical camps and hospitals, awareness programmes, skill development programmes for Self-Help Groups, ABG is always there to uplift the society in every way possible.

One of the best ideas I admired about ABG’s CSR initiatives was the ‘Model Villages’ concept wherein the selected villages are made self-reliant. I am also hugely motivated by the fact that 90% of the social projects take place in villages, as was stated by Mrs. Rajashree Birla, in an article in Mint, as this is line with idea which I have, of reaching out to people living in the remotest areas of India and upgrading their living standards by providing the basic necessities and educating them.

With my dreams and aspirations, and with companies like ABG to look up to, I hope to bring about as much positive change as possible within our society in whichever ways possible.