Aditya Birla Group is an Indian multinational conglomerate with headquarter in Mumbai and Sh. Kumarmangalam Birla as its chairman. I am very proud to confess that this group has been clothing me for the last at least 10 years. I have been such a great fan of Van Heusen and Louis Philippe clothes that I would not even see other brands’ clothes even for variety sake. Idea was my first mobile service provider as the connection was provided free during our welcome ceremony at Thapar University where I graduated from. Now, coincidently, I am using a Vodafone mobile connection and such is my loyalty for the company that despite poor network in our area, I continue to run onto the road for listening to phone calls. To top it all, I suggested Aditya Birla Mutual fund to my father about three months back when he wanted to invest in SIP. Again, while renovating our house, only Ultra Tech cement was used although the construction got stuck up sometimes due to its non-availability. My grandfather would often refer to one Shri M.S. Surana who was who was a highly placed official at HINDALCO, Renukoot and was hi close friend. Such is my association with Aditya Birla Group and its influence on my life.
Not only has this group succeeded in various businesses, it has been very active in CSR activities also which are mainly spearheaded by Mr. Rajshree Birla, chairperson, Aditya Birla Centre for Community Initiatives and Rural Development. After doing basic research in consultation with the target groups, they have identified focus areas to be Education, Health Care, Sustainable Livelihood, Infrastructure Development and espousing social causes.
In Education, their endeavour is to spark the desire for learning at every stage which they do through opening of schools and Aditya Bal Vidya Mandirs. Similar initiatives are taken for providing health care to the needy through their hospitals and awareness programmes. They are also providing sustainable livelihood through vocational training to the target population like women in partnership with ITIs. This group, I have come to know, is also instrumental in improving infrastructure, drinking water, sanitation and housing etc. for those who are not so fortunate. Most importantly, they are supporting eradication of social evils like dowry, child marriages etc. and sponsor awareness programmes on anti-social issues.
All these activities are done in targeted and time bound manner which is, no doubt, a mammoth challenge. I am deeply impressed and motivated by all this and feel one with the people handling this because I have myself faced many challenges in life which were encountered head-on. The most formidable challenge was when I was selected for Chemical Engineering at Thapar University but that was not my choice. Even my family was not happy but were silent as they did not want to discourage me. In Thapar University, there used to be in up-gradation test in December which would enable you to upgrade your stream of engineering, if you attain a good rank. I literally burnt midnight oil, toiling day and night, covering the usual Semester course and up-gradation test syllabus simultaneously. Finally, with the grace of God, I was able to secure 7th rank in the said test and was upgraded to Computer Science.
In the end, I would say that life itself a challenge and we have to face it for our own betterment. But the real happiness can be derived if we strive for upliftment of the poor and needy as is being done by the people who are at the helm of affairs at Aditya Birla Group who even after being financially successful, work for those who are deprived.
#sjmsom #sjmsomiitbombay