These two events were the most special and emotional shopping moments in my life and Aditya Birla Group helped me in making them more memorable. Now, there is not a single day when I think of shopping and a fashion retail store by them doesn’t come in my mind, be it Pantaloons, Van Huesen, Peter England or Forever 21.
In the year of 1857, what started as cotton trading in the small village of Pilani, Rajasthan has now grown to be a global premier conglomerate with operations across 35 countries. With a vision to cater to the fashion and retail needs of the Indian consumers, Madura Garments was established in the year 1988 and it was recognized as India’s first national level business to focus on fashion and retail. They started their journey by introducing Louis Philippe in the year 1989 which was inspired by King Louis Philippe, who was the King of the French from 1830. Then they went on to introduce Van Huesen in 1990, Allen Solly in 1993 and Peter England in 1997. In the year of 2000, Madura Garments was acquired by Aditya Birla Group after which they came up with Planet Fashion in 2001 and Esprit in 2005. After expanding their established brands which were and continue to be so rich in quality and value that people still perceive them as international, Madura Garments actually took up the initiative of filling the gap between the Indian consumers and international brands and provided access to the same within the country. They brought global names like Forever 21, Ted Baker and Simon Carter to the Indian markets. This is only a small part of Aditya Birla Group’s achievements in the fashion market. Their portfolio consists of businesses related to metals (Hindalco), cement (UltraTech Cement), Carbon Black (after purchasing Colombian Chemicals Co.), textile (Birla Cellulose and Grasim Industries), telecom (Idea Cellular merger with Vodafone India) and finance (Aditya Birla Capital).
Therefore, from its inception till the present date Aditya Birla Group has stuck to their vision and mission and has been touching lives and making an impact in all ways possible.
GIFTS
(A journey of overcoming fear for passion)
My biggest fear right since childhood was the fear of public embarrassment. As a comparatively fatter kid in the social setting I grew up in, body shaming and catchy nicknames contributed a lot to the social anxiety disorder I was dealing with. Though I wasn’t obese, I was treated like one. As time passed, growing up in a small city became more like a punishment and a normal shopping spree became a hell ride. From friends and siblings treating me as a sumo wrestler who had the potential of making a whole in a ground with a free fall to the shopkeepers throughout the city suggesting to go for “Free Size” as my size of clothing is not manufactured at all, my insecurities had a strong foundation since a very young age. The embarrassment I used to face in almost every social gathering or conversation filled me with fear of going through the same every time I open my mouth.
With a dream of leading the masses and being an artist (an actor and a dancer), my fear always told me that I’m good for nothing and its better if I create a wall around me and stay inside them as much as I can. This fear of embarrassment was so genuine that cutting lose the best opportunities to show case my talents was never a concern. Back in school days I used to take part in extempore competitions every year but in spite of delivering quality content with the prescribed voice modulations I never got a chance to hold any position in the competition because my fear used to kick in while speaking resulting in stuttering or forgetting and the audience could always feel my rush to finish my piece to leave the stage as soon as possible. Though these participations helped me in developing public speaking skills, they never helped me in dealing with my fear. I still remember the day when I was ready to back out of the event and give the chance to a very good friend of mine because she got eliminated in the qualifier round. What seemed like a genuine concern and selflessness to others was actually a mask on my inner fear on making a fool of myself on stage.
My fear took the best of me throughout these years and all this time I was so comfortable within the walls I had created around me to avoid people that I took almost three months to speak to my own roommates! And then suddenly came a day of self-realization. In that moment I realized that only the fittest can survive I this concrete jungle of cut throat competition. I took the fittest part of this enlightenment a bit seriously and started doing Zumba. Zumba helped me in losing those extra kilos and in that process, I gained self-confidence. This new confidence was like new super power inside me which gave me enough courage to stand for elections and bag the position of the Joint Secretary of State Women’s Commission in college. Suddenly I was the new social butterfly around who wasn’t afraid of doing drama on stage for cultural or social events of college or striking a conversation with a stranger or getting the work done by juniors. With this new avatar of me I felt invincible. I took part in drama and dance in various events of my undergrad college and because of holding a position I got opportunities of talking to new people almost everyday which helped me in stepping out of those walls a little every day.
Though I lost one of my biggest lifetime achievements of losing 25 kgs when I took a break for preparing for various exams after graduation, the gifts of courage and confidence that I gained in that journey are still there inside. It helped me to make friends and socialize with people and showcase my interest and talent in drama within a month’s time this time when I stepped inside the campus of IIM Trichy. Yes, I’m still learning to step out of my comfort zone but this is the happiest I have been with myself when it comes to socializing. My hard-earned gifts continue to motivate me like an inner voice to not give a darn about what others think of me and give me the wings to be myself no matter how fat I a or how I look in someone else’s eyes.
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