Part A : Aditya Birla Group and the Impact on my Life!
The heart of India lies in our diversity, our myriad languages, our culture and most importantly the behemoth of a tradition, we call ‘’Being Indian”. At the onset, what started as a company turned out to be a mammoth organization touching every single Indian and making an ‘’Indian’’ impact in each and every one of our lives.
The origins of the Aditya Birla Group can be traced to Seth Shiv Narayan Birla, who in the year 1870 launched a cotton and jute trading business in the town of Pilani, Rajasthan.
Today with the revenue of $44.3 billion and presence in 35 countries, Aditya Birla Group has impacted every Indian’s life in a big way. Personally speaking, I was extremely inspired to know that Shiv Narayan Birla’s grandson Ghanshyam Das Birla was instrumental in India’s independence struggle, supporting Mahatma Gandhi. The group’s omnipresence in our lives has made sure we use their product and services for even the smallest task possible.
If I wish to make digital payments, I have the Aditya Birla Idea Payments Bank Limited. When I use a car for travelling or a pen to write things, I use the carbon manufactured at Birla Carbon. I stay in a house made of UltraTech Cement. When I wear formals for my B-school presentations, I use brands like Allen Solly, Louis Phillipe and Peter England. I wrap my food for college in aluminum foils made by Hindalco Industries Limited. You name the utility and Aditya Birla Group has it!
The mention of daily utilities can not be complete without the mention of Aditya Birla Group. This presence of one single entity in all of our lives is something that makes me wonder at the complexity and ingenuity with which they manage their operations.
Aditya Birla Group’s focus on youth is one thing that I found very unique. Not many conglomerates focus their energies on the youth. This fact is evident from Kumar Mangalam Birla’s statement about his group’s logo where he stated,’’ In essence, we are a much more dynamic, vibrant, youthful Group across five continents. Our new corporate mark is a fine blend of continuity and change’’.
From 1870s to 2019, the group has come a long way in making sure every Indian was a part of their group’s reach. The Chinese philosopher Laozi said,’’ The journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step”. This quote couldn’t have been more relevant in my description of Aditya Birla Group. They have taken their numerous single steps in revolutionizing the way Indians live and I couldn’t have been prouder of this fantastic feat!
Part B: Overcoming a task that wasn’t a piece of cake!
As a boy growing up, I always was very inquisitive about things around me. The quest to know more and learn more was never satiated until I would meet someone who could be pestered by my myriad questions. I loved asking questions and the one thing that gave me a “Nerd” tag was probably also this “annoying” habit of mine, as rightfully appreciated by my peers.
I believe the struggle to be at the top and make an impact is only when things matter to you. As long as you are in the game, everybody faces challenges but the one obstacle that changes you for good is something that I would define as a Big Challenge.
The year was 2018. While I was returning from my office, I got a call from my mother mentioning that my father had been hospitalized due to a certain build-up of gas. It wasn’t until the next 14 days when we were given the advice of going for a CT scan to ascertain what exactly the “gas’’ build up was all about.
After a long session of test analysis, it was found that my father was diagnosed with Stage 4 Follicular Lymphoma, a type of Blood Cancer. It felt as if the world had come to a standstill. There were innumerable questions in my head. How? Why? What? But the answers were none.
Life was very different after that day. We had a small educational firm which had to be managed. Hence, I had to resign from my job. There were to and fro visits from my hometown in Guwahati to Mumbai, where my father was being treated. Watching my healthy father change into a thin, frail and bald man was something that was completely out of my imagination.
I had to take a stance of being the stable guy in the family so that life could move on. It was a huge emotional burden on my mother and she, fabulously, wore a veil of strong emotions, not letting the sadness of our lives affect our educational firm, of which she was a part as well.
Both of us supported each other and after grilling emotional ten months, things took a positive turn. Today, after six sessions of chemotherapy and twenty-two sessions of radiation, my father is on his way to normalcy.
To sum it up, my biggest challenge was my father’s unannounced medical tragedy.
By being emotionally stable, pragmatic and objective driven, I overcame my challenge and finally saw the light at the end of the tunnel.