I was born and brought up in a middle class family where my parents’ soul world revolved around me and my needs. So, searching for any financial or psychological challenges that needed to be overcome, seems like a challenge in itself. Getting into a top IIT after 12th was my long-time dream, maybe my fathers as well. So, I was sent to Kota for better preparation. Away from home for the first time in my life, I was overwhelmed with everything. Foreign place, foreign language (it may seems absurd but I didn’t know a single Hindi word), foreign food, even sun setting at a different time, everything seemed to be going against me. Though in a few days I made many friends who were very amused with my weird pronunciation. They helped me in every possible way. But the infamous food of hostels didn’t agree with me. This was the case with many people. Someone suffered from jaundice, someone from chronic stomach disease. Some even suffered from hepatitis and left Kota. Life there was hectic, missing even a single lecture meant getting far behind in the race. Such was my misfortune, or you may say my negligence that I became ill just before my 12th board examinations started. I was unable to sleep, severely ill. My father rushed to Kota to take me back home. But I was afraid to miss an academic year just because of my illness. So I continued giving exams, in the middle of the examination rushing to the toilet, the cycle continued. After a few days I sat for IIT entrance examination as well. I fared pretty badly in both the examinations. But the next year, I recovered, got back to Kota, sat for the exams again. That year, I didn’t get into the old IIT’s so I opted to study in the best college in West Bengal, BESU, and the second oldest college in India. The memories I made there are enough to make me forget the dark phase that I went through for a whole year. The phase seems like a distant bad dream. Now I am studying in IIFT, so whatever happened and whichever way happened ultimately led me to a great destination.
HOW ABG HAS IMPACTED MY LIFE?
When we talk about Aditya Birla Group, we are sure to be entangled in the web of products that they have. In every walk of life, there is something or other that is associated with this name. When I was young, I remember, to mention awe worthy riches, there were two household names- TATA and BIRLA. Now when I am to talk about ABG's impact on my life, I remember an incident, when I had my campus selection procedures for PwC 4 years back.
We had 1 days’ notice before PwC visited to our campus. I was planning to go to my nearest Pantaloons store to buy a new set of Formals when my best friend's mother fell seriously ill. So, we rushed to her home, admitted her mother to the hospital. Doctors advised us to always be there in the hospital and I was the only one being strong at that time. So till evening, we stayed there in the hospital and the next day I had my PwC interview and I still had to buy those formals. So, I used my mobile and searched for pantaloons stores. There was a mall right beside the hospital and I went there to buy my formals. Before going to Pantaloons, I crossed my path with an Allen Solly store and I went inside as the formal collection for women seemed amazing. They had some great collection of formals at a really reasonable price and I couldn't resist myself from buying two sets. When I was coming out of the store, I felt like I have betrayed Pantaloons and my loyalty towards them is no more there etc. But then I thought, I have gotten such nice clothes and I should be happy about that. I went back to the hospital and by then the doctors were discussing discharging my friend's mother as she was doing better then. That was a relieving moment for us and we were elated with joy. And after a while, when we came out of the fog of pressure and tension, I could feel the happiness inside me for getting such great formals. It was one year after this when I came to know that Allen Solly also comes under ABG's umbrella. And since then I've been using Allen Solly formals only. That day and those moments, really had a deep impact on my mind and hence this loyalty towards Allen Solly maybe. When I appeared for my interview for IIFT and then afterwards for the corporate dresses needed in the college, I always depend on Allen Solly.