“There’s Pantaloons in the mall. Do not worry.” I have been hearing this from my family, friends and colleagues since a long time now. Aditya Birla, the group behind this kind of dependability stands big in my life. Certain brands are so deeply rooted in your daily life that you experience them everywhere you go. Be it in those tasty parathas that your mom packed in the aluminum foils, the first jeans you bought off your internship money from Planet Fashion or the new tee your friend ordered online from People, Aditya Birla has been present in our life and making it a lot easier. I remember back in college when spending on clothes was considered a luxury, Pantaloons would always come for our rescue. My first pair of formals for job interview, those matching black suede bellies are still my luckiest lot bought from Allen Solly. And they leave no stone unturned to make me feel special. I am constantly reminded of the awaiting coupons, birthday discounts and many more. I was working in Panipat and shopped most of my time there in Pantaloons. They would call me up to inform me about seasonal sale and discounts.
Giving back to society is one of the many causes that I yearn for. Aditya Birla group has been actively involved with many CSR initiatives including reduced emission, promoting green technology and alleviating poverty by education. One of the challenging tasks that I faced during my graduation life revolved around teaching poor kids who lived nearby. Our seniors had decided to conduct evening classes for them. But the challenge was in convincing their parents about it. Our batch was given the responsibility to go to their respective homes and get to send their kids to our campus for the classes. I was appalled to see the condition. They did not want their kids to go and study because they were not aware about its benefits. They knew work and money. It was a tough task getting them to send their kids. Even after much convincing on a regular basis, some would come and most would go somewhere else on the pretext of coming to the campus. But the handful who would actually turn up liked the classes. Our real achievement was when those kids had brought their friends along. We were students too and could not have helped them financially but we would take all the possible measures to help them overcome the basic deficiency of educational awareness. We used laptops to show them videos, projectors to keep them engaged. Every weekend was a challenge in itself. It was not a one semester thing. With time we realized that it was getting difficult to manage our weekends and academics, so we gave the baton to our juniors. But I am glad that the tradition is still in continuation and the responses have been getting better with time. Our college administration was ever so helpful to keep the classes open for this stint in the evenings. Now when I look back at those first year’s weekends that I missed because I was teaching those kids, I feel elated for the little difference I made.