Life is what happens when you’re busy making other plans-John Lennon this quote has always been an important learning of my life. Everything started 25 years back when I was the first child born in a Punjabi joint family and everyone in my family was high on emotions. The very next day I was diagnosed with a hole in my heart and everything turned upside down from there. Being from a middle-class family and affording a treatment in the ’90s was a tough ask for my parents. My parents left no stone unturned to provide me the best treatment and, in the end, a miracle happened and I got a second life at AIIMS Delhi. To date, my mother is apprehensive talking to me about those days of struggle but after that incident, I had promised myself not to let my parents sacrifice and hard work go in vain.
Being from a very protective family I chose moving out of my comfort zone joining the graduation college away from my hometown. Initial days were very tough but the key learning was always “
What doesn’t kill you, makes you stronger”. I worked at different places after graduation from Chennai to Kolkata. But working in an IT company never gave me a sense of satisfaction and then began a journey which is very close to me: getting into IIFT.
Working 12+ hours a day including the traveling time use to take a toll on my body. I tried my first attempt in 2017 where I failed miserably. The second attempt in 2018 was a do or die situation for me where I had given everything to my preparations and with all the perseverance multitasked with my work and studies till the D day. Still, the interview didn’t turn out the way I had expected and I had lost all my hopes on my dream college coming back from the interview center. Eventually, I started looking for a new job and cleared an interview for one of the big 4. Joining date was given, the notice period was completed, flight and accommodations were booked but as we say life happens when you are busy making other plans. IIFT result was declared in the second week of April a day before my last working day and I was offered a seat at IIFT Kolkata. Thinking about these challenging times I realized it gave me important learning to have faith in the process and the result will take care of itself.
Talking about ABG, Aditya Birla group is not just a name but a brand which has always impacted the life of million including mine. The ABG was always the part of my journey of life through my successes and even during my failure. I still remember the first mobile connection in my family was Idea and still during my b-school Vodafone Idea Limited is helping me to surf the internet on a go.
Building a home was the dream of my father and his first choice Ultra Tech Cement known for its integrity and strength contributed to achieving that dream. Taking into consideration of Hygiene Freshwrapp products was always the first choice for my mother from school days. My grandfather worked for Birla sun life insurance and use to provide me diaries from the office where it was engraved “
Your dreams, our commitment”. It always led to a sense of proud when I use to carry those diaries during my school days.
Coming to B-school formal attire is always an integral part of a student’s life and I have always been a “
Peter England” fan. The quality provided at an affordable price was one of the reasons my wardrobe has done majors in “
Peter England”. All the B-school interviews I faced including the ones I failed miserably and others where I did greatly have one thing common “Peter England” formals. Thinking about these things I remember a saying “
Take care of small things in life and the big thing will eventually fall into places” and all my small things were in place thanks to ABG.