Good leaders have vision and inspire others to help them turn vision into reality. Great leaders have vision, share vision, and inspire others to create their own.
In the 19th Century, when the independence movement was advancing rampantly like a wildfire and every Indian dreamt of only one thing “Freedom”, a visionary dreamt of what after achieving the independence. This visionary was none other than Seth Shiv Narayan Birla who founded the Birla Group in 1857. Now, after 72 years of freedom and 162 years of its formation, Aditya Birla Group stands tall as a testament to the vision of one great visionary and the management of some legendary people. Currently operating in 35 countries with more 120,000 employees, Aditya Birla Group now greater than ever is the third largest Indian private sector conglomerate. These numbers don’t do justice to the fact that almost everyone of us has been touched by ABG in our existence owing to their wide diversified interests ranging from textiles, telecom, metals, financial services. For me Aditya Birla Group has always been there in some way or other for as long as I can remember. The home i spent my childhood in, where I took my first steps and uttered my first words was constructed from Ultratech Cement. Like every kid starting school, I used to cry when my father used to drop me off at school. Only thing that would relax me was the thought of lunch break and voila, there you had the most amazing meal all wrapped in Freshwrapp. The first time i wore formals in college were trousers and shirt from Peter England which has been my luck factor as it landed me my first job. All the years I have spent away from my family while studying or working, I have never felt distant from them all thanks to an IDEA, that has certainly been changing everyone’s life around me.
The biggest challenge I faced in my life was on 25th November 2018, the day of CAT Exam, the D-day, the day for which I had been juggling between work and studies for about a year, the day which would decide what next course would my life take. It was the most important day for me and it was also the day I realized that Murphy’s law, the popular adage that states “whatever can go wrong, will go wrong”, a concept that is maybe as old as humanity still holds true. I had my exam in the morning shift and winter had just knocked the door of North India. I left home with high hopes, tense nerves and enough time to reach the centre comfortably . But fate had other plans, my cab had brake failure while coming down from the flyover due to which we crashed with the barricades placed on the road to create diversions. Both me and the driver survived the crash with minor scrapes but I was in shock for a few minutes from all the adrenaline pumping in and came back to senses a few minutes later. Struggling to find a new cab for 20 minutes and lift from a very helpful uncle got me to the exam centre 15 minutes after reporting time and the thought that maybe i have missed my chance added more to the already high tensions. After a brief setback I was allowed inside the exam centre and a could breath a little easy. This was one of the most challenging situation for me where thinking I had missed my chance which would cost me one year. This situation was a test of my character, my ability to face hardships and how well I can manage myself in testing times. This also taught me the value of optimism and the value of helping others in need like people helped me due to which I could give the exam that would change my life.