Ever since childhood, thanks to lovely bedtime stories and a good upbringing, I’ve always been a firm believer in my dreams. Be it choosing my major in high school or picking the specialization of my choice in Engineering, I was given complete freedom of choice. I was always intrigued by Electronics and Automobiles which led me to choose Electronics as my Engineering specialization.
I was placed in Ericsson after my graduation and this was when reality struck like a lightning for the first time. This was my first ever stint in a corporate which made sure that I found every aspect of it dumbfounding. I was completely at sea. Few months into the new job, I went up to my father and told him that I don’t feel at home in this work environment. That day he told me two things. One, no matter where you are, what you do, try to learn maximum from that place and environment irrespective of whether it is conducive or not.
Second, parallel to the learning process, keep hunting for better opportunities that will take you to better places. I followed his advice and kept my head down and focused towards learning as much as I can. MBA was always on my mind. I always dreamt of studying in a premier B-School and made it a point that I will take out time every day despite a 4-hour travel schedule to prepare for MBA entrance exams and on my very first attempt, managed to get calls and crack interviews of various B-schools including NMIMS.
When I look back, the desire to learn and an everlasting quest for better opportunities have always taken me to better places.
Why is Aditya Birla big in my life?
Every middle-class person in this incredible nation has one basic right. The right to dream. To dream of enhancing his lifestyle, to build the house of his dreams, to start his dream business etc. Now I was a dreamer with a highly imaginative mind ever since my childhood. Aditya Birla Group and its brands have been an inseparable companion in different stages of my transformation journey to date.
Lunch breaks at school were incomplete without the delicious lunch box packed by mom with food wrapped in Superwrap. Be it the first time we wore those formal clothes at the High School Farewell, the first time we showed off our latest collection of t-shirts at friends’ gathering, all of which were bought from Pantaloons. Whenever there was a call for Variety + Budget, we had to look no further than the Pantaloons store 2 kms down the road. Times kept changing, so did ABG’s companion brands.
It was time for Graduation. We were grown up now and our choices demanded to be fulfilled by a brand designed for a grown-up man! Peter England and Van Heusen for Formals and Semi-formals, Louis Philippe and Allen Solly for the Suits and Forever21 for casual clothing; ABG brands were just the right fit and the right friend. Parents had handed a bigger responsibility of supervising the construction of new home and even there, I saw the builder trusting none other than Ultratech Cement to be the binder for our dream house.
I’m sure going forward, the challenges and occasions will keep getting bigger and an ABG brand will be there right beside us to make our life easier.