Growing up in India, television has occupied a big place in every kid’s life. Cartoons and sports shows have been a constant, accompanied with the occasional serial and news program that we viewed with our parents. A major part of the TV viewing experience was the advertisements. One advertisement that still is fresh in my memory is the one of the Aditya Birla group in which four people manipulate the elements of water, earth, fire and wind. This was my first exposure to the Aditya Birla group. At that point of time, the advertisement felt very fascinating. Later, I started seeing the sun of the Aditya Birla group in various places. Eventually I came to know about the Aditya Birla group and its influence in the life of people. The biggest difference is created by the group in the lives of under-privileged children and the rural population via their CSR activities. Also their projects in healthcare and sustainable livelihood are another facet of their philanthropy. At a personal level too, the Aditya Birla group has played a part in my life. The earliest memory would be the Freshwrapp aluminium foil that my mother used to wrap sandwiches for my tiffin in school. After consumption of the food, the aluminium foil would be turned into a ball to play with. I have spent many a lunch breaks playing with that ball of aluminium foil. I have been a resident of Mumbai for the major part of my life. The Bandra Worli Sea Link has turned into an iconic identity of Mumbai. The Aditya Birla group via UltraTech Cement has played a significant part in the construction of this mammoth structure. Another recent example would be the preparation for joining Indian Institute of Foreign Trade. I had to buy a business suit for college. The first place I visited for this was the Planet Fashion outlet near my home. There I found the perfect suit from Peter England for me. That same suit has been a constant companion with me in college. These are just a few examplesof how the Aditya Birla group has been a part of my life. But there are many places where we are not aware of it but the group has played a major part in our lives. I hope that this successful association with the Aditya birla group continues in the years to come.
In my whole academic life, I have been considered to be a good student by my teachers. I have never failed in a subject. During my first year in engineering college, we had a host of subjects from various domains. Some of them were interesting but some not as much. One subject that we had was Basic Electronics. The subject was quite interesting. However, I couldn’t score a lot of marks in the first unit test for this particular subject. I only got 2 out of 20. Not losing hope, I prepared for the second unit test but again my performance was not at par. This time I got 2.5 out of 20. I was not able to figure what mistakes I was making. Due to these performances, I pegged all my hopes on the final exam. I studied as much as I could, learnt whatever I had to. I gave it my all. Few weeks later, the results were declared and it turned out that I had failed in Basic Electronics. It was the first time that I had failed in an academic subject. I was devastated. I questioned myself and my abilities. After a day or two I composed myself. I registered for the make-up exam. I decided to give my best in this exam at all costs. I studied hard in my vacations. All day I only used to study Basic Electronics. I did not go out much. I just studied. I then went and gave my make-up exam for Basic Electronics. After a make-up exam, the maximum grade that can be awarded is a C grade. Most of the students that give the make-up exam get an E. With the marks in the unit tests that I had, an E grade would have been tremendous for me. However, it turned out that I had scored a D grade, which, considering my performance in unit tests was absolutely amazing.
