Show me the heroes that the youth of your country look up to, and I will tell you the future of your country.
In the year 1857, the first fire of India’s struggle for independence was ignited. At that point in time, a visionary, Seth Shiv Narayan Birla knew to be truly independent, India needs to be financially independent first. Thus, the first seeds of Aditya Birla Group were sown. Aditya Birla Group today is a multinational conglomerate operating in 35 countries and providing employment to over a lakh people worldwide. Aditya Birla Group is the pride of India. Hailing from family which is primarily into agribusiness, my father always reminded us it was difficult for them sustain what they had, it was difficult for them to grow enough for family and to sell in the market. When my father was in high school, my grandfather fell in a well and contracted infection in his leg due to which his leg had to be amputated. Farming was extremely tough in those days, my grandfather could not do it after that, so father had to drop out of school to sustain the family. It took a huge emotional tool on my grandparents, knowing their first-born child, who really good at studies had to be drop out of school. It was after years, that the Indo Gulf (Fertiliser manufacturing venture of ABG) was introduced in our village. With the help of Indo Gulf, farming in our village became much easier and my grandfather could do it with the help of my uncle. Because of this my father was able to continue his education and later go on to become a engineering gold medallist from Aligarh Muslim University. Had it not been for ABG’s Indo Gulf, my father would never have continued his education, I wouldn’t have got the education that I received and I probably would not be where I am today. It is because of ABG that father was able to continue his education, achieve what he achieved and made me what I am today.
The biggest challenge I faced on my life was on April 4, 2015, the day of JEE Mains examination, the D-day, the day on which my last 2 years would be judged. I still remember it was raining horribly in Delhi on that day, people were struggling to keep their cars running, there were very long traffic jams because of totalled vehicles. After hours on road, I reached the exam centre and was delighted to see my friends there. We talked, laughed and wished each other luck and went ahead to our respective exam rooms. It was in the exam room that I realised murphy’s law holds. On the OMR sheets provided, I filled the centre code incorrectly and I was told by the invigilator that your career has finished before it started. Yes, those were his exact words. In a 3-hour exam, I was not allowed to start in the first half an hour. The pressure at that moment was immense, on one side I could see all my hard work going to waste and sadness of my parents. But on the other side, there was a voice in my head, telling me, the war isn’t over yet, only one battle has been lost but there are many more left, so fight, fight till your last breath, and most importantly fight to win, you can win. So, in that half hour, I got permission from the administration to give the exam, immediately I started the exam. That experience was a test of my character, test of my ability to keep going in face of hardships. It taught me the value of optimism and the value of that voice in your head that tells you to keep on going!