ABG- Fashioning India's Aspiring Youth!

I still remember the day when my elder brother took me to a retail outlet of Peter England to get me my so-called first branded formals. That day was nothing auspicious per se, but the larger purpose was to celebrate the two concurrent events occurred very recently: one- the first salary of my brother's first job, second: my selection to the NIT Trichy. I was a novice in terms of the branded fashion at that time. When my brother told me about the shopping at Peter England, I thought that I was getting damn expensive imported clothes. Even my mother and sisters were quite apprehensive about the level of expenses my brother was planning. Amidst all these apprehensions, I and my brother reached the showroom at a mall in Bhubaneswar. The pleasant aesthetic ambiance of the showroom and the varied and colorful stocks in the showroom put a sense of joyful idea in me that I would be getting a very good shopping experience. This suddenly led all the previous apprehensions about the expenses vanish. I was very excited to try out so many clothes in a trial room which was first-of-its-kind experience for me. It became very tough for me to select which one pair of formals I would be taking home as the collection was so vivid and vogue. I was exposed for the first time to so many technicalities about a formal shirt and pant, for the first time, eg: slim-fit, lycra, expandable waist etc.. After a long trial process, I got my dream pair of formals which I meant to wear on my first day at the college. One of the most important aspects of Peter England apparel is that it was not that expensive and can hold up to the expectations of an average middle-class youth. After the shopping, My heart was filled with a mix of joy and satisfaction for getting branded clothes at an affordable price. When I put on the same on the first day of my new engineering college, I felt confident and proud like never before.

Since then, I became a big fan of the ABG which has brought good quality apparels at an affordable price to India. Like me, I am sure that millions of India's middle-class aspiring youth must be preferring Peter England as their first choice to attend their interviews for the first job, first college admission and any other significant days. I gradually came to know more about other brands of ABG like Van Heusen, Louis Phillipe, Allen solly etc. which were the costlier and more superior in quality than the Peter England. After I got through my first job, I purchased several formal shirts and trousers from van Heusen for my regular office days. The extensive choices provided by ABG's fashion help capture the dreams and aspiration of India's youth. After ABG's acquisition of Pantaloon Retail store, it has become very convenient for many of us to get our crave for good fashion satisfied in a single shopping experience at Pantaloons.

how you overcame challenges to achieve your ambitions in life so far?

Challenges are something we all human beings have been facing in our day-to-day lives irrespective of our socio-economic status in the society. The same goes for my life experience as well. I was little aware of my true ambition in life till the time I was employed with my first job. After graduating as an electrical engineer from the NIT-Trichy, I got the opportunity to work in a leading Navaratna PSU in the power sector. I was posted at a greenfield project on construction of a high voltage electrical power substation at a remote village of Odisha. I have been involved in the very beginning of the project where there was to be a huge land to be acquired for the same. My experience in land acquisition and CSR activities brought me very close to the people at the ground level. I was getting a glimpse of the humbled style of living of the people in villages. This has inspired me to get into the civil services in order to help the people standing at the last strata of society achieve their dreams and aspirations. With that ambition and dream, I had put forth my heart and soul in preparing for the civil services examination conducted by UPSC. However, I could not get through the examination after trying for a couple of years religiously. But my ambition for doing something great for the society was still alive then.

After deciding to move on with my life, I decided to do my post-graduation in the field of management. However, I wanted to join such an institution which was having the reputation of producing professionally competent and socially sensitive management graduates. This is achieved when I got into the Master's course at Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Mumbai. My unfulfilled ambition of venturing into public services to effectively respond to the global challenges by adhering to the values of intellectual honesty, justice, and fairness is becoming fulfilled by my current curriculum of TISS, Mumbai. Despite having several setbacks in my life in terms of career progression, financial sustainability to achieve my goal, I strictly stuck to my goal of building my career in a field where I would be empowered to bring about the true and visible changes in the lives of the common man and the poorest of the poor. This is possible due to my sheer confidence and belief in me.

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Manoj Dash

ABG- Fashioning India's Aspiring Youth!