Curiosity may have killed a cat, but the 2 year old me did not know that as I was interested in whatever that transpired around me. It was around this time that my parents started the construction of my home. They were very afraid that I would get hurt if I am around the construction and would try their best to keep me away from it, but had to take me along sometimes. Adding more fuel to their fear, I would run all over the place, grabbing anything and everything I could. But they were very interested by how I would give my careful attention to the workers who were building my home stone by stone. I would even try to reach out to them and use their tools, as if I am helping them build! My father still tells the story where I took a part of the mixed cement and built a structure from my imagination. On my next day of my visit, the workers gifted me the “sculpture”, that had dried and solidified. I used to have it with me for a very long time, until one of my smaller cousins took it for herself. Some time back, I came to know that this sculpture, one of my prized possessions, is made from a brand of cement that is now known as Ultratech Cement.
If I am asked to rank the things I am most attached to, my home would be right there, just after my family. Aditya Birla Group helped my parents realize their dream of a perfect home. Right from the cement from where my home derives its strength, to the Hindalco sheets that protects it from sun and rain, Aditya Birla Group has made my home what it is.
Apart from building my home, Aditya Birla Group has been consistently influencing my life. I still remember the day my parents bought me my first piece of “branded” clothing. I was full on grinning at the trial room mirror, flashing my new Peter England shirt. Later on, and when I started earning for myself, I could flaunt clothing by Allen Solly, Loius Philippe and Van Heusen, as I defined my style. Even when I was facing mobile network connectivity issues as I moved to Gurugram, it was Vodafone that came to my rescue.
Along the lines of how Aditya Birla Group has impacted my life, and is committed towards impacting people’s lives, a sense of giving back to the society had developed in me. Admitted to a government sponsored engineering seat, I was paying only 7% of what a candidate pays for a non-government seat. Essentially being taught by the taxpayers, I owed something back to the society. I had an idea of creating a forum for the promotion of technical activities in my college, so that my college could deliver a better engineering yield. However, the mainstream political parties of my college opposed this idea of an apolitical forum as it would pose a threat to their free reign over student affairs. My team spent weeks trying to work out possible solutions, but since we were not willing to compromise upon our principles, I had to let go of my dream.
After this setback, I realized that I have been limiting myself from serving the rest of the society. Recognizing a need for practical education and holistic development of the children from underprivileged and underserved sections of the society, I co-founded an NPO, Inspire Society. We would visit orphanages and poor homes and teach the children the basics of engineering and its interesting applications, employing a fun packed course structure. When the first session of Inspire began at Sai Gramom, Trivandrum, only 4 of the 53 students were interested in engineering and technology. As the session concluded we were surprised to see that the whole of the class was then interested in engineering and technology.
Boosted by this terrific response, Inspire spread to other orphanages and poor homes across Kerala, and would then conduct annual camps and fund raiser pro shows. I am proud that Inspire now caters to the dreams of over 800 children including as young as ten years old. We could also popularize the Inspire brand where in the late Balabhaskar became our greatest well-wisher, reaching out to our kids whenever he could, and also sponsoring a few of them.
Aditya Birla Group has impacted the lives of many and changed them for the better. They have infused this particular mission of theirs into one of the most famous taglines, “An idea can change your life”. Now, I think I know what it truly means: “The greatest idea is which changes others lives, as per the best of their dreams.”