Part A

Pantaloons is a shopper’s paradise. I have been a frequent visitor to Pantaloons. The kind of quality and variety available easily outmatches other such similar options available. Every six months, I visit the nearest mall for a quick round of shopping. I try to ensure that I get into only one shop and buy everything needed from there. That is where Pantaloons comes in. It is one place where most varieties of clothes is available. I especially love the T-shirt section where I find really hard to come to terms that I need to buy only a few. The quality is also really good with the clothes being really comfortable.

Pantaloons is one of the many brands of Aditya Birla Fashion and Retail Limited (ABFRL). Aditya Birla Fashion and Retail Limited (ABFRL) is a part of USD 44.3 billion Aditya Birla Group. With a revenue of Rs. 7,181 crore and a retail space of 7 million sq. ft. (as on 31st March, 2018), it is India's first billion-dollar pure-play fashion powerhouse with an elegant bouquet of leading fashion brands and retail formats.

ABFRL emerged after the consolidation of the branded apparel businesses of Aditya Birla Group comprising ABNL's Madura Fashion division and ABNL's subsidiaries — Pantaloons Fashion and Retail (PFRL) and Madura Fashion & Lifestyle (MFL) in May 2015. Post the consolidation, PFRL was renamed Aditya Birla Fashion and Retail Ltd. ABFRL brings together the learnings and businesses of two renowned Indian fashion icons, Madura Fashion & Lifestyle and Pantaloons creating a synergistic core that will act as the nucleus of the future fashion businesses of the Aditya Birla Group.

Part B

The biggest challenge was completing chartered accountancy. I consistently maintained good academic scores in 10^th and 12^th standard. During this time, I developed a liking for accounts and saw a place for myself in finance. My parents, being CAs inspired me to pursue chartered accountancy. After 12^th, I attempted and cleared CPT which is the entrance exam for this course in 2012 and IPCC which is the intermediate stage in 2013. I joined the statutory audit and assurance department of Deloitte for articleship. There, I worked on various listed companies the Shriram group, ITC group. In order to diversify and gain industry experience, I joined Ameriprise Financial for industrial training for a year. This is a large USA based fortune 500 financial services company dealing in investments there. I worked on preparing mutual fund financial statements and MIS department there. The most difficult part was balancing the work and studies. The usual schedule had a class at 6am and office started at 10am. The day got over by 9 or 10 post which the revision of the concepts started. This went on for the whole of the articleship duration. Applying the concepts learnt in class practically while working really made the effort worth it. Plus the colleagues at office really helped in ensuring I get to learn well. I really appreciated the effort the managers made to ensure that an adequate amount of pressure of work is put upon me. I cleared CA exams in November 2016, thus, completing a hard fought journey.

Saksham Verma

Part APantaloons is a shopper’s paradise. I have been a