Let me start with a cricket analogy. What would have been the Indian Premier League if not for the presence of the superman, Mr. ABD? The 360° batsman is a crowd favourite across the cricketing fraternity. He can pull crowds like no one else. Drawing parallels, we have ABG, another 360° player who is a crowd favourite and can pull crowds like no other conglomerate ever has. Revolutionizing the industry, Aditya Birla Group, headquartered in Mumbai, has spread its wings to over 35 countries and has catered to the needs and wants of over millions globally.
From the aluminum foils in which we used to wrap food to fill our tiffin boxes, to the aluminum cans from which we used to drink energy juices and carbonated drinks; from providing cements that strengthen our houses, to providing strength to the tyres of our cars; from the textiles and apparels we wear to all the retail products we buy that includes FMCG products, fruits, vegetables, groceries, homecare and pharmacy among others; from providing all sorts of non-banking financial services like life insurance, asset and wealth management among others, to providing cellular services through Idea and Vodafone; from mining industries to wind power generation; ABG is ‘BIG’ in not just my, but everyone’s life.
But that’s just what makes it ‘BIG’. What makes it “BIGGER” are the values it believes in, the values it makes people believe in. Through their values of, “integrity, commitment, passion, seamlessness and speed”, they reach out to around 7 million people in about 3000 villages through the Aditya Birla Centre for Community Initiatives and Rural Development. They also run 56 schools providing quality education to 46,500 children and 20 hospitals that tend to more than a million villagers annually.
This is what makes ABG big in my life. It makes me believe in a world where each day brings new learning, a world where good ideas see the light of the day, a world that is full of opportunities and possibilities. It makes me believe.
CHALLENGE FACED IN LIFE:-
Challenges are an integral part of everyone’s life. One can either merely go through them or grow through them. It’s our challenges and obstacles that gives us layers and depth and make us interesting. Are they fun when they happen? No. Not at all. But then they are what makes us unique. And as they say, the biggest challenge is always the mental ones. One such uphill challenge I faced was encountering deaths.
As a child, the concept of death, being abstract, is not understood in the same capacity as an adult as it cannot be explained objectively. Having never watched it closely, I was in the same boat. And then came a storm, a storm where I had to face death from close quarters and in different forms.
Within the span of a month, I lost a grandfather, a motherly figure, a friend and a mentee.
Within the span of a month, I saw four different vicious forms of death.
Within the span of a month, I broke and then I broke again and then again and then again.
Within the span of a month, I faced more sadness and darkness than I ever did.
Death alters your life forever. The pain might stop, but the gap never closes. But as they say, life stops for no one, not even the dead. You can choose to stay down, or you can choose to acknowledge your feelings and try to work on it. I decided to do the latter. And it took me all the energy I had. The experience made me more humble. It made me realize the importance of life. It made me view the world from an entirely different perspective. A friend at that time suggested to me a mantra that I’ve kept with me ever since: “Zoom Out”. It is simple, yet powerful. At times we get stuck in a loop, a loop that essentially eats us up. For me, that loop was sadness. For others it can be something else. It is essential that we get out of it and that’s why, it is important that from time to time, we zoom out and look at the bigger picture out there. The picture that the world outside is infinitely full of opportunities and possibilities.