It was about the time when shopping malls started coming up in Tier-2 cities in India. All of us were excited regarding the concept of a single destination for shopping, entertainment, dining etc. The bright and charming showrooms greeted us as we entered the mall, but the ones which really caught my eye were the Peter England and Van Heusen stores. From the Freshwrap foils which wrapped the food inside my tiffin when I went to school to having the memory of gifting my father a Louis Philippe Sweater, the Aditya Birla Group’s products are a part of so many sweet memories from my past. While remembering about some past memory, more often than not ABG’s products have some place in them.

ABG has such diversity in the apparel space that most of my apparel shopping gets started as well as ends at an ABG store. They just occupy our mind-space when we think about apparel purchase. Trying to see more regarding how ABG affects us unearths the point that most of the new National Highways/Expressways build for the modernization of our nation are built by Ultra-Tech Cement, again an ABG brand. For any new brand, being under the aegis of ABG commands respect and trust from us today because of their long and rich history.

ABG’s products occupy a significant portion of our individual history as well as our nation’s history. The quality products have complemented us in having some of our most memorable personal moments, as well as helped our nation in its progress over decades. In the end, I would just like to thank ABG for making my childhood a little more sweet, my college life a little more smart, and our nation much more strong.

PART B: Taking On Challenges as a Learning!!

Being from an upper-middle class family in India, one thing was sure regarding what I needed to face to succeed – Competition and Challenges. My parents were pro-active enough to appraise me of this fact so that I start to prepare myself for what was about to come. And yes, challenges came in every hook and corner of anything I wanted to achieve. I succeeded in some, and failed in others as well. But the one thing which I learnt by going through all these challenges was that, the worst way in which we could fail in a challenge is by not accepting the challenge in the first place. Because whether we succeed or fail in any challenge in our life, the most precious thing which we gain from it is the experience and learning which we take away from that challenge.

One thing in which I think I was extremely fortunate was getting an opportunity to participate in singing competitions since my childhood. And that taught me to focus on the process and work hard, and not worry too much about the outcome. Losing many competitions initially as well as seeing the excellent quality of other participating singers really made me doubt myself. These losses also made me question whether I should take more challenges or not. But facing more such losses eventually took the fear of loss away from me, and generated a belief that I could be as good as any other participant if I just work hard on myself. Also, my attitude changed towards learning from any better singers I came across and improve myself. Thus every loss turned out into an opportunity for me to improve myself. Finally, I did start winning many of the competitions I participated in, as well as won a National Level as well as District Level prize in a singing competition.

This learning which I had from winning and losing in these competitions also transcended into other aspects of my life and eventually became a part of my personality. It changed my attitude towards working towards any challenge I take up in a structured manner, and try to improve as I go along the journey. It made me realize that going through the grill and getting the basics right is much more important, since that is something which is in our hands. The result is just an outcome - sometimes positive and negative at other times!!

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ABG - The Rich and Memorable Relationship! | Siddharth Chaturvedi, DMS IIT DELHI