Aditya Birla Group needs no introduction. It is in the League of Fortune 500. It has imprinted its presence on a wide range of sectors- metals, cement, branded apparel, chemicals, fertilizers, insulators, financial services, viscose filament yarn, telecom, BPO, and IT services. ABFSG ranks among the top 5 fund managers in India. It operates in 35 countries with more than 120,000 employees worldwide.
It’s hard to find a person, especially an Indian who hasn’t used an Aditya Birla Group product in his or her lifetime. There's a little bit of Aditya Birla in everybody's life. It is India's first billion-dollar fashion powerhouse which sells 2 garments every second. I have worn Louis Philippe and Van Heusen suits for my college and IIM interviews. Currently, my house is under construction and choosing the cement for it was a no-brainer. It had to be the trusted UltraTech Cement Ltd. Aditya Birla Group has become unknowingly a part of my life since the beginning. I have been using Vodafone Idea Limited for the past 8 years, which is an Aditya Birla Group and Vodafone Group partnership and is the second-largest globally. Giving back to the society is a cause that has been close to my heart and hence I have grown to appreciate the initiatives taken by Aditya Birla Group, in particular, the focus on de-addiction programmes and dowry-less marriage. I also am a strong proponent of higher education, for it is a respectable way to rise out of poverty which is again a key focus area for the Aditya Birla Group.
Therefore Aditya Birla Group is present in every sphere of my life.
How I overcame challenges to achieve my ambitions in life so far?
The journey of my life has not always been smooth. There were potholes, speed breakers, obstacles, and roadblocks. But I kept a smile on my face, no matter what because I have understood that it's not what happens to you, but how you react to it that matters.
One of the biggest challenges I have ever faced was when I was in my 2nd semester of Engineering. I was diagnosed with Typhoid due to which I missed some quizzes and was short on attendance too. I thought I will compensate for it in the upcoming exams and continued after recovering. But God had written a different script for me. After a fortnight or so, I fell sick again. Typhoid was back, this time it was worse. It came to the point that I was not even able to walk properly. Hence, the recovery period was longer this time which meant I had to withdraw all the courses for the semester. The Academic Committee told me that I will be completing my engineering in 5 years since from now on I will be lagging behind my batchmates. All my friends suggested me the same. But I didn't want to lose an important year of my life sitting idle, doing nothing.
From seniors, I came to know about the Summer Semester in which students stay back in the summer break and clear their backlogs. For other students, it is a matter of 1-2 courses which they take in Summers but I had a daunting task of finishing 7 courses in 2 months time. Knowing that it was not practical to take all 7 courses, I decided to split the 7 courses. I took 4 courses in that summer semester and kept the remaining 3 for next summer semester. I knew that this my last shot to save a year gap so I worked hard and scored a 9.31 GPA in the summer semester.
After that, there was no looking back. I took proper care of my health and didn't face any major health issues until now. Next summer came and I finished the remaining 3 courses and scored a perfect 10 GPA. After which I was in sync with my batchmates and graduated with them.
Next phase was corporate life and preparing for CAT while doing a full-time job which demanded 9-10 hours of my time was challenging as enough justice had to be done to both the things. But if you are passionate about something, you learn to manage your time well. I used to study from recorded lectures while commuting from my house to the office and back. I faced many challenges on the personal front as well but every time I felt down, I remembered why I started in the first place.
And here I am, at IIM Ranchi, in one of the best B schools in this country.
Thus patience, perseverance, and passion helped me to get over with the challenges which I have faced in my life.
