Started in 1857 in a small village in Rajasthan, Aditya Birla Group has been successful in creating an entire ecosystem of products that do not require a person to step out of it for any requirements. Their product portfolio ranges form fashion clothing, financial services, cement, metals, textiles, chemicals, banking to carbon black. They try and touch every part of a consumers life.

Confidence and hard work are the key to success and proper clothing makes a person feel confident and enhances ones personality. When I was to join college as an MBA student, I was an introvert and lacked confidence to face new people, make new friends and start a new life.

Clothing plays a major part in building ones personality and I realised the same when I went shopping before joining the college. With brands like Forever 21, Pantaloons, Allen Solly etc in its kitty, ABG provided the one stop solution to all my problems. From casuals to formals to party wear, these brands served the purpose to the fullest.

They played a major role in helping me realise my potential and believe in myself. Knowing that I looked presentable made me feel confident and now I can talk to new people without hesitation. It also helped me step out of my comfort zone and take part in activities that I was scared to attempt earlier and which also helped me hone my skills. Now I can face any challenge that life throws at me with full confidence and overcome it.

HOW I OVERCAME CHALLENGES TO ACHIEVE MY AMBITIONS IN LIFE SO FAR

Life in itself is a challenge. No one can be successful without facing any hardships in life. Facing challenges moulds a person in many ways and makes them stronger. Everyone has faced some or the other challenge at some point in their lives and I am no different.

When I was in class 12^th, I had my board exams for the first time since in 10^th we had CCE system in which there were no boards. There was already a lot of pressure to perform well in the exams. On top of that, my dad met with a serious accident which tore me apart. I am very close to my dad and seeing him in such a condition did not go down well with me and I lost all the confidence in myself.

It was just 1 month to boards and I was not able to concentrate at all. I just used to keep crying looking at the pain that my dad was in. It was at that time that my entire family acted as my backbone and gave me strength to overcome the sorrow. It was my father’s strength and desire to get well soon and his confidence in me that gave me the strength to start working towards my goal (to perform well in boards) again. I too did not want to let my dad down and so I started to prepare for my exams again.

Eventually, I scored 92% in my boards and made my parents proud of me. The lesson that I learned that day was that no matter how hard the circumstances are, we should not lose hope and keeping working tirelessly towards our goal. The situation may seem difficult at first but there is nothing that you cannot achieve if you put in the required efforts.

Surbhi Maheshwari

ABG - A guiding force in my life.