Relentless exploitation by Britishers for over 200 years had left India reeling and broken, India was perceived as a third world country in the world after independence. But, in the leadership of business pioneers like Ghanshyam Das Birla who with their business acumen and dedication turned the tide in favor of India. Business houses like Aditya Birla Group, which are now in the same league as the fortune 500 companies, has helped in uplifting countries image Internationally
Ghanshyam Das Birla started trading in cotton and slowly was able to diversify in various sectors such as textiles and fiber, aluminum, cement, and chemical during his lifetime only. Today, Aditya Birla Group has expanded itself into other areas such as finance, retail, fashion, chemicals, IT service, etc.
It operates in 35 countries and employs more than 120,000 employees worldwide. Being able to manage such a massive conglomerate with so many diverse business verticals with such perfection is the result of strong ethics and business values which are being followed by the leaders of Aditya Birla Group.
From the arid lands of Rajasthan to playing a vital part in Indian Independence to being an International renowned brand which is now in league with fortune 500 companies, Aditya Birla Group journey is a story of grit, integrity, and perseverance. The Values and ethics which the group followed in its whole history is something that motivates me a lot. I am myself a patriot like GD Birla, who himself was a follower of Mahatama Gandhi Ji and played an active part in pre-independence Indian Politics. He even represented India at the first and second round-table conferences in London.
I also relate to the Aditya Birla group very strongly as right from my childhood. I have been associated with the brand quite strongly. My first interaction with any brand related to the Aditya Birla group is Ultra tech cement. It was used in the construction of our house, of course, I didn’t know about this at that particular point of time, but now when I see my house standing, I understand that indirectly Aditya Birla group helped us built a house which today we proudly call home.
Also, two of my favorite apparel brands “Van Heusen” and “Peter England” are part of the Aditya Birla Family, and it’s the quality of the product and after-sales customer relationship that the store maintains that I am still continuing with these brands
During the final year of my graduation, I had a few innovative ideas which I wanted to work upon. Everyone, including my parents, teachers, and my friends thought that going ahead with these ideas of mine was a waste of time and that I should concentrate on completing my graduation without any hiccups.
But, as it is said that “Through hard work, perseverance and a faith in God, you can live your dreams.” I followed this ideology and started working towards this goal of mine.
I, with a school friend of mine, started learning from various online courses about how to give shape to our ideas, basics of entrepreneurship, and other required skill sets.
Slowly after a lot of brainstorming, we were able to give a formal structure to our idea and started applying to various entrepreneurship events, and during this time I was also able to handle my studies, in fact, I was able to better manage my time since I knew the value of it.
We faced a lot of failures at various events, but I kept on learning from each mistake of mine and kept improving myself.
Finally, our first break came through when our two ideas were selected by IIT Mandi incubator “Catalyst” for exploration grant.
This was a massive moment for me, but I also knew that this is just the first step, and a lot more needs to be done. We started working on both our ideas and did a lot of ground research, surveys, pilots. The best moment came after this when both our plans were accepted by the incubator, and we finally went ahead with one of it for the final run.
That day when we received the final acceptance letter from our investors was the moment my hard work has paid off. Everybody including my parents, teacher, and friends congratulated me for my feat and it was that day I realized that no matter what the circumstances are, no matter what others think of me but if I believe in myself and if I dare to pursue what I have set my mind into I will always be able to succeed
