India is home to many of the giant family business houses, be it Tatas, Ambanis, Godrej, Wadias, Munjals, Mahindra, Thapars and many more. But one of the most influential and contributing to the Indian Society and the country as a whole has been, The Birla family heading the Aditya Birla Group for more than 160 years.
We Indian deeply value our families and so did Mr. Shiv Narayan Birla, who laid the foundation of ABG in the year 1857 starting with cotton trading business in Pilani, Rajasthan.
Later in 1919 Mr. Ghanshyam Das Birla, grandson of Mr. Shiv Narayan Birla was handed down the company and soon on 25 August 1947, just 10 days after India gained independence, Grasim Industries Limited - The Flagship of ABG, was formed, which is now a global leader in Viscose Staple Fiber. After that it was Mr. Aditya Birla who pioneered the company and diversified portfolio, which now engages in sectors like Agriculture,Cement, Chemicals, Insulators, Retail, Apparel, Telecom and many others.
Now under the command of Mr. Kumar Mangalam Birla, the company and its brands have become so ubiquitous, that it has become a part of each life. The houses we live in made using UltraTech Cement, the connectivity services provided by Vodafone Idea Limited, the clothes we wear by brands such as Allen Solly, People, Peter England, Linen Club just to name a few, are examples of how many lives ABG have touched.
It's not only the retail space in which we can witness the humongous range ABG offers, but also the commercial space, with products ranging from Chemicals for various plants, High voltage insulators for power grids, Birla Carbon for rubber and ink industries, Various natural and synthetic fibers for clothing industry, are a few such examples.
In essence the ABG sets an example for other companies, about how to become so ubiquitous that has so much to offer while influencing life of such a large population, that sometimes you don't realize that from the clothes you wear to the fertilizers used to grow your food are all made by a single conglomerate, The Aditya Birla Group.
It was during my time in engineering college that I realized I had to change, somehow I always felt that I was not performing at my best, that there is still much room for improvement. From a young age I have been a quiet child, who preferred to keep things to himself, but I had one thing going for me, my inquisitive nature.
College was the first time in my life I was left on my own, to fetch for myself, no family to help me out in a new city, all I had was financial and emotional support from my parents. Those 4 years gave me an opportunity to evolve myself, time to self reflect and ask myself what I wanted from life and what I wanted to give back to it. It helped me overcome my fear of public speaking, fear of asking others for help and being turned down. At the same time I started investing in myself by staring going to the gym, learning how to dress well,represent myself and started reading self help books to build a more positive and motivated me. Those 4 years also provided me with some great friends who believed in me and wanted to see me succeed.
In the final year of engineering my friends urged me to take Graduate Aptitude Test in Engineering, I have not always been in the top of the class so I was skeptical about whether or not I will be able to make it. In the end I decided to go for it. This was followed by months of preparation. Whenever I used to feel that things are getting out of hand or that I did not have it in me, I would head to YouTube and watch a couple of motivational videos, get pumped up and back to study. And in the end I was able to qualify the exam.
In the end the factors which decide whether or not you will succeed are Consistency and Drive. And almost every other parameter that you might be lagging behind in can be compensated by enough of Consistency and Drive.