As I write this article sitting in front of my window looking beyond the clear sky of Ranchi, I think of BK Birla. I see the contribution of one man BK Birla in one business agglomerate – Aditya Birla Group. I see how ABG that began just as an idea more than 150 years back is now an unfathomable force. It is venturing now in businesses hard to keep a count of and doing exceedingly well. Yet, it won’t be wrong to say, it all began with an idea and an idea can indeed change your life.
ABG is the air we breathe, so it’s presence in our life isn’t just huge but unmissable. As far as my consciousness goes back, in the advent of telecom revolution, when my father bought a cellphone, the network he chose was Idea. Back then, most hoardings, most available resellers and exciting tariffs came from Idea. I remember, due to some family issues, my father had to go to the PCO every night after office and wait in queues for finally being able to talk to my grandparents for 5 minutes. Bringing affordable calling rates and eventually a phone in our hands, Idea indeed changed our lives. The benefits of being on the Idea Network might be tangible but he will agree he could solve the family issues much smoothly because ABG had made it possible for a middle class household to finally make calls on rates affordable at their own convenience. It’s been 16 years since my mother and father still uses Idea in form of Vodafone and yes the network has lot many challengers around now but there’s one thing their generation inspires me for – Loyalty and their loyalty to the network that changed their lives is undeterred.
The other snapshot down my memory lane is when I used to go to native town in UP. I can remember so many walls, so many hoardings of Ultratech Cement with a strong man standing hand crossed that it stayed in my head. Whenever a new house was in making there or even around my house in Delhi, piles of Ultratech Cement sacks would sit waiting to become part of the foundations of the house. Even as a kid if you would have asked me to attach a few adjectives to ABG, they would have been Reliability, Strength and Availability. I am glad a venture like ABG happened to India, they gave us so much for so long.
And no doubt, these forces inspire you to put your best foot forward in your personal life, right? It did so for me too.
My father works in CRPF so I got an admit to CRPF Public School. My father always put a premium on my education but I wasn’t a good student at all, things were always hard to grasp, coming out of shell and raising a hand to ask doubts in class was always a task next to impossible, winning competitions and getting trophies was always someone else’s feat around me. Everyone was good at something and I seemed to find nothing that can lift me off mediocrity. One day, in around 7th Grade I got the news that my father has got a transfer and he needs to leave us back in Delhi as he goes to the terror prone area of India. My mother was really broken and nervous on having to live alone and take the responsibility. My brother was too small to make a difference and when he left, I saw my mother sobbing. I went to her and wiping off her tears said, Don’t worry I will be the man of the house now! It makes me smile that I was 12 and I had the courage to utter this to my mom. Somehow not having my father around was scary as he was very involved in our lives but then, I saw this as a challenge, an opportunity to take the responsibility of my situation and not rely on someone for mending my life and its problems. I started taking charge and working hard. My study was my job and I had this constant thought that my family needs me. The events turned and I ended up being the Academic Topper, it was start to my successful academic life. I also started winning debates, extempores and going out for Street Plays. I got interested in music and generated interest in Movies, Reading and Writing. Life Changed with an IDEA, an Idea can indeed do that to your life.
Thank You ABG for being the fuel to many such ideas that changed our lives.
