As a teenager, I would always pester my mother to take me shopping, but the first time thing I would hear is that ‘You have enough clothes'. Since childhood, my number one priority has been to get more and more clothes in life. Updated with the latest fashion trends, my outings were mostly about getting a new pair of shoe or a dress. Once in school, I heard one of my friends talk about a new Pantaloons store that had opened. As difficult as it was, I somehow convinced my mother and went shopping. I still have the distinct memory of thigh length tops and broad bangles, which were a rage back then. When I entered undergraduate college, ABG contributed a major chunk of my happiness as it gave me FOREVER 21. The first store opened in Ambience Mall, New Delhi and I was one of the weekly visitors. The sling bags, the crop tops and the best-fitting jeans at a pocket friendly price was something every college girl yearned for. I used to save up money from my pocket money to buy the Forever 21 accessories. The weekly trip to the store with my friends used to be ball. After the fun college ride, now was the time for some serious happenings. I got placed from campus and yet again ABG played a significant role by providing me with my first set of formal apparels. VAN HUESEN was and still is my holy grail for Business formals. I still have a one yellow shirt which I wore on my birthday and got many complements at work. After a few months, I went shopping with my parents to DLF Emporio. This was the first time I was going to buy a high end product. My father gave me his card and said, ‘Go ahead, but spend carefully, my child!’. I came back with a HACKETT T-shirt for him and said ‘Couldn’t have spent more carefully’.
While in college, I used to be a part of Dramatics society. Though I got selected, I lacked confidence and had stage freight. I couldn’t raise my voice like other girls did and was too shy to put forth my ideas, because of which I was always the punching bag for my seniors and batchmates. We used to perform street plays across Delhi NCR for competitions and public performances. At the end of the performance, the seniors used to give everyone a feedback and I was either scolded or never noticed for my work. These events started taking a toll on my self-worth and self-esteem. It was an irony that we were making a play on women empowerment, but I never felt empowered for myself. That’s when I realised that rather than cribbing about these issues, I will have to work on myself. I started reading about social issues, reading plays written by famous writers and working on voice modulations. I initiated by putting forward my views, but initially, neither my friends nor my seniors took me seriously. However, tables started turning and once I took over the direction of the whole play when nothing was in place. I wrote a script from scratch and implemented it. Not only was I admired by everyone, but also I was conferred with the position of Street Play head, the following year. These set of incidences made me more vocal and confident.
