Aditya Birla Group has always played a big part in my life. It has mostly been through the fashion and lifestyle brands such as Allen Solly and Panataloons. Throughout my university days right up to the graduation ceremony all my formal wear was from ABG brands (Peter England, Van Heusen and Louis Philippe). Even as I start my MBA journey at IIFT Delhi, one of the premier B-schools in India, ABG brands form the majority of my wardrobe, from my smart casuals to business formals and even full suits.
My association with ABG started with my first visit to Panataloon’s when I was just in grade 7 and needed my first formal dress. My parents took me to Panataloon’s to help me shop for formal attire for an audition for which I was selected through my school. Unfortunately, I was not able to crack the audition. However, my first experience of a box store stuck with me and I continued to shop from Panataloon’s due to the high quality of the products. The greatest moment in my life which solidified my loyalty towards ABG fashion brands was my graduation ceremony when I was wearing a Van Heusen suit and was awarded a honors certificate for my decision. This award was a great moment in my life and has made me a truly loyal ABG shopper due to the feel good factor their clothing brings out in me.
One of the my proudest achievements in life was when my team and I won the best export policy plan during my minor semester in the third year of my four-year undergrad program. This was my ambition when I started my BBA studies. However, having a dream does not guarantee that it will be realized. I learnt this the hard way. This was because during the first two years of the program, it was mandatory for students to take up and successfully pass Spanish as a foreign language. These two years of Spanish classes were the first challenge I faced to realizing my goal. The second challenge was getting to the minor semester and securing a good company with which I could develop a good export policy plan. The third and final obstacle that I had to overcome was to conduct reliable, valid and usable research that could be used to generate meaningful recommendations for the company with which we were working.
I overcame these challenges through perseverance, lots of support from my friends and family, and also by boosting my confidence through the help of ABG apparel brand clothes. Learning Spanish proved to be an easy yet rewarding experience once I stuck out the first few months of awkwardly speaking Spanish with my peers and professor. This was especially enriching during my time as a volunteer for the Real Madrid youth camp as I was able to communicate with the coaches in their native tongue of Spanish. I relied on my tremendous support system of family and friends to tackle the second challenge and persevered to get to the third year in a timely manner. The third and final challenge was the one from which I learned the most. Successfully dealing with this challenge taught me not only good team work but also the nuances of conducting research. It also taught me working in intercultural teams. Throughout this entire process of working towards my goal and its realization, the constant was my ABG apparel wardrobe for which I will always have a positive feeling.
