Submitted By – Vishakha Sharma
MDI Gurgaon, PGPM 2018 - 2020
There is not just one moment when Aditya Birla Group has played an integral part in my life. It has been a series of situations occurring every now and then during important junctures of my life where I have felt their impact in some way.
Pantaloons, the fashion retail outlet owned by ABG has impacted my life in both measurable and memorable ways.
December 2016, Pune. I was working as an employee for an IT company since two years. While the company was very reputed and took care of its employees, I felt burned out. Exhausted. At 24 years of age. The work was not aligned with my interests and I felt like I was in the wrong field. Moreover, various personal issues had taken their toll on me making me cynical and unlike my usual bright, cheery and always hopeful self.
Two months later I took a transfer to my hometown and another two months down the line I quit my job. I had planned to take CAT long back since the time I was in college. I felt it was better to get a year of work experience and then appear for it. However days stretched into months and months into years and I realized that in the daily grind of adult life and the challenges of my current situation, I had somehow left my goal behind and was late by two years to get into a B school as per my original plans. The realization broke me.
So four months later I found myself quitting my job with the aim of putting in single minded focus for CAT and clearing the exam with barely four months left to go.
Did I just say FOCUS? HAHA! Three years after being out of college and not touching a book and getting to know I suffered from a modified form of Attention Deficit Disorder in adult life, it was the thing that eluded me so tantalizingly as if I was looking for a shadow in darkness. I literally found that I had forgotten how to study, how to sit for long hours and basically J.U.S.T H.O.W T.O F.O.C.U.S.
My feelings of despair and hopelessness returned and only surmounted as the days merged into nights and I found myself nowhere near covering even a fraction of the syllabus for the exam.
Steadily I figured out that nearly everything could disrupt my fragile focus and in that period I gave up everything – All social media accounts, whatsapp, cellphone use, friends, outings and got lost in some underground tunnel where I buried myself in absolute social isolation with my books. While this cut out many distractions from my environment, I still found it extremely hard to study beyond one hour and could not sit through the entire length of even a mock test without giving up entirely due to lack of concentration. Nevertheless, for me it was a do or die situation at that time as I had given up the safety net of my job as well and I tried what I could do and ploughed on.
Two things held me in good stead in this period – 1.) I started practicing pranayama with a bit of meditation ( and realized even to do this focus escaped me hopelessly)
2. Whenever I felt like getting out of the house, which was often, I would go for solo outings in the mall nearby. Solo because the mere act of calling up / texting another person and making plans would have hurt my efforts to build up something of my concentration at that point. Secondly because of what those outings gave me. Walking across aisles of showrooms, checking out dresses and buying something for myself or my sister was a relaxing activity I realized I could engage in with my own company without requiring the need to play surreptitious games with concentration. My favorite haunt was Pantaloons in Elante Mall, Sector 19, Chandigarh where I could find beautifully designed clothes with great variety. These outings diverted my mind from the exam and left me rejuvenated and uplifted.
Finally, the day of the exam arrived. I felt positive and more confident than I had in a whole year. While I had literally not covered most of the topics in CAT syllabus, I was very calm and in a state of superior concentration that transcended anything I had felt in my life before. I did not let stress get to me at any of the stages. It was absolutely surreal. Once the exam was over I felt a sense of pride in the way I attempted the exam irrespective of what the result would be. When the results came out, it turned out I had scored a perfect 100 percentile in VARC – the section that was all a game of concentration along with a good overall percentile as well.
Different people have different mechanisms for getting through tough exams and situations. For me CAT was entirely a mind game. I was not able to study much because of the issues I faced. But I eliminated all distractions in my life at that point which lead me to a point of complete social isolation and while this could have backfired , the two things that helped me build up positivity and relax myself without hurting my concentration were breathing exercises and the weekly outings I had at Pantaloons.
One year later, I am studying at MDI Gurgaon and I recently stayed in Calcutta for two months as part of my summer internship. I also took up a part-time project with a leading FMCG along with my summer internship there as it was too good an opportunity to refuse. This left me with lots of work and no time to hang out with other interns or explore much of the city. But luckily enough there was a Pantaloons store within walking distance of my accommodation and you can guess where I spent my evenings whenever I felt like getting some fresh air. I also ended up giving career advice to people at the showroom in Calcutta who would see my B-school T shirt and ask for advice, not to mention the repeated purchases I made. In the end I completed my internship along with the project from the FMCG successfully and also got appreciated by my mentors at both places.
For me, having a place to go to and explore clothes of great variety, designs and at affordable prices is not just a means of shopping. It is a coping mechanism, something I can resort to for my well-being without relying on another person. It gives me satisfaction and keeps me mentally fresh and strong in otherwise stressful situations which I believe is my ultimate strength and has brought me where I am.
And thanks to ABG for providing us with these sanctuaries and outlets which ultimately enables us to flourish and succeed!