We, humans, intrinsically have profound inclination for values and emotions. Emotions have always left an imperishable imprint on our hearts. That one song we heard as a kid passing by a forest or that one time we played a game of football in rain with friends, the tiniest of trigger brings the flashes of those moments back to us. My association with Aditya Birla Group is well, of a similar kind.
In 2016, I was in Sambalpur, Odisha (my native state) and being an ardent Football fan, had gone to attend the inauguration of a football ground in the nearby community. A well equipped football ground had been a fantasy for years for people like me in the nearby villages. It immediately caught my attention that entire project had been funded and executed by Aditya Aluminium. The smiles on people’s faces were those of a dream fulfilled. That struck a chord with me. My interest in ABG piqued and I spent the next few hours scourging the web to get to know more about ABG, the conglomerate.
To be candid, I was dumbfounded. ABG was, had been, always around me in some form or other, throughout my life. I was well aware of the various companies and brands ABG owned and had been a direct customer of many but what moved me was how ABG worked for a change in the society we live in. It seemed to be more human empathy than corporate social responsibility. From creating hundreds of self reliant model villages to providing food and education to thousands of under privileged kids, treating millions of people with its healthcare services to providing basic amenities for a dignified life, ABG, as an organization has moved me as a person. ABG is big in my life because it’s big in its heart!
Smooth sea never makes good sailors! A clichéd but nevertheless true statement valid for people as well as organizations. Aditya Birla Group’s inception in 1857 coincides with that of the beginning of the Indian rebellion against the British government. A coincidence ? I beg to differ . Just as the Indian rebellion changed the course of Indian and world history, Aditya birla group has changed peoples’ lives, for the better. It has faced a great many challenges in its centuries-long journey, from challenges in reshaping the organization in 1995 to foraying into new businesses like Retail and Telecom, and has always come out stronger and is now one of the largest conglomerates in India.
I’ve had a few testing phases in my life as well. Most challenging of them all was a change I had to bring in my mindset to achieve what I set out for. Since I was a little kid, nothing appealed to me as much as the sight of a cricket bat, my favorite sound was that of the ball hitting the sweet spot of that bat. I really wanted to play cricket at the professional level. There was only a tiny problem stopping me from becoming the next Tendulkar- I was really bad at it! Still, I did appear for district cricket trials for 5 consecutive years for a record 11 times and was rejected each and every time. I was laughed at, ridiculed even by the closest of my friends and the dearest of relatives. One fine day, more from an act of coincidence than serendipity, my school physical education teacher caught hold of me and put some wisdom into my childish brain. That too no rocket science to decipher. He just said ‘keep doing the right things, make sure your values are in place, enjoy yourself and you’ll get there’.
Now, I had the highest of regards for him and hearing him say that changed something in me. These words still reverberate in my head. Thereafter, I just sporadically stopped worrying about trying to impress people when I play and just focused on working hard, honing my skills and believe I can do it. I again failed to get selected in the next two trials but I was surprisingly okay with the outcome. I didn’t whine, I didn’t complain, I just worked hard and kept believing in myself. At last, at long last, lady luck smiled at me. I was selected for the under 16 district cricket team and then , everything changed . I was a regular feature of the subsequent district cricket teams as well as the following year, I became the first player from my school in its 42 years since inception, to get selected for a National level cricket tournament under the School Game Federation of India. In a nutshell, the experience changed my life. It made me understand the importance of self belief along with the value of hard work and perseverance. It was just an idea in my childish head to begin with-to play professionally, to hold that bat, to represent something. That idea changed my life!
