Thinking about Aditya Birla Group, the first phone that I got in my 12th class was Nokia 1200 which had an Idea connection. Instantly I was introduced to the world of sending and receiving text messages and how useful it was. Though my parents allowed me access to a phone for my studies for preparing for my engineering entrance exams, but it was mostly used for talking to my friends and scheduling football matches and planning outings with my friends. Remembering about all the conversations I had over the phone still makes me feel nostalgic. Thanks to this, I got into my first relationship which ended soon in 2 months. Still after 10 years of receiving the phone with an Idea sim, I have changed multiple phone but never changed my initial number or the service provider. One reason could be the connection I had with this number but another reason is the connectivity Idea provided in the mountainous terrain of Himachal Pradesh where other service providers had a hard time in providing continuous services to its customers.
Another brand of Aditya Birla Group with which I have a connection is Van Heusen. Joining my first job at Verizon after completing my graduation, I needed to update my wardrobe with formals. This was when my elder brother took me to a Van Heusen showroom as he was a brand loyalist of Van Heusen. Though I didn't like wearing formal clothes, but after trying out a few shirts I changed my mind. After joining the firm, I observed that wearing formals was not compulsory but I kept wearing formals as I felt comfortable in them and there was a feeling of confidence when I wore them. I always thanked my brother by introducing me to formal clothing but I also want to thank Van Heusen for the same too.
Incident that changed my life
'Are we lost?'... Those words resounded in my head like a dead weight as I realized I and my group of friends, that traveled across the country for a trek to the famous Parashar Lake, have now strayed far from the path while treading downhill from the famous tourist spot. An unexpected snowfall had faded out the trail for us to a village in the east where we were supposed to spend the night. We kept heading in the direction which we believed to be east. As nightfall approached, we were not able to locate any settlements but my friends did not let me lose hope and ensured that they believed in me. It was at this moment, I mustered the courage to take a call - to find a shelter for the night underneath a rock. Spending a night out in the open as temperature drops and the snowfall showing no signs of ceasing, had to be the toughest night of my life(not to forget the fear of engaging any wild animal, which kept us awake the whole night). In the morning I recalled hearing the villagers about number of streams that lead to a watering hole which is used by the number of villages. I communicated this to my group and we started looking for a stream. My friend Sandeep located a stream and we started following the stream downhill and were able to reach the watering hole. Since it was still early morning, we decided to wait if any villagers show up. After a while a young girl came with water cans and we knew that we had lived through the experience to tell it another day.
The impact this whole experience had on me is that I decided to take up trekking a hobby and learn my way around the mountains. Since that day whenever I go for a challenging trek, I always keep in my mind not to lose my calm and believe in myself.
#IIMRaipur #ABGLPWooMe