Part A:
In at least 250 words or more, tell us why Aditya Birla Group is big in your life. Research about ABG’s brands and the kind of work they have done in India and the world since independence.
The 162 years old, one of India’s biggest conglomerates and an employer of more than a lac people across the globe, the Aditya Birla Group is an epitome of business excellence.
ABG has more than 45 active brands in the Indian market spread across multiple industry verticals like Cement, Fashion apparel, Carbon black, Telecom, non-ferrous metals and financial services. Maintaining the excellence factor throughout these brands is what differentiates ABG from the rest in the market.
For me, the one brand that has had the most effect on my life is Pantaloons. Currently the fastest growing large format retailer in the Indian market, this brand has been in the apparel space for the past 20+ years. Belonging to a middle-class family, the resonance of the positioning of Pantaloons with the needs and wants I had from an apparel brand, was probably the primary reason of choosing Pantaloons.
Coming from the background of shopping for apparel from local retailers, Pantaloons offerings were more on the lines of a branded store, but within the price range that I was into with the local retailers. This unique proposition made Pantaloons a suitable fit for me.
Moreover, the stores of Pantaloons had that premium outlook, something quite different from the local retail stores. One other factor that was unique to Pantaloons was the diverse variety of sub-brands it put on offer for its customers.
Over the years, Pantaloons has also added various other brands also in its inventory. This has given it a multi-brand store outlook, competing against the likes of Lifestyle and Central.
Part B:
At the core of the ABGLP program are people who drive to make an impact, irrespective of what challenges they face. Tell us, in at least 250 words, how you overcame challenges to achieve your ambitions in life so far.
In the fourth year of my under-graduation, I got the chance to serve as the Vice-President of the Rotaract Club of DTU, where I had been working for the past 3 years. As one of the earliest tasks that I performed, I worked hard to make a compelling bid to host the Rotaract Global Model United Nations. After a series of screening and testing, our club got the grand opportunity to host the RGMUN 2018 special edition. Albeit, this put our club on the map of Rotaract India as one of the clubs to look after, there was still a gigantic task waiting for us to accomplish.
To host the RGMUN – 2018, was no cakewalk for us. To put things into perspective, the previous edition of the same event was organised at the UN Headquarters hosted by the Rotaract club of New York – Manhattan. To even match the grandeur and eloquence of the previous edition, thus even matching it was a near impossible looking task. The crunch factor for us was that MUNs were not a universally known term, especially to the generation older than us, who were in-charge of our parent rotary club. So, to convince them for funding us in lakhs, the kind of funds that the event demanded, was quite an uphill task.
Ultimately, we had to look for alternate sources of funding, due to various reasons.
Consequently, we needed good quality delegates to make this event a successful and meaningful one. To get these delegates, both national and international, we had to devise an articulate engagement program. Eventually, there were around 150+ members from India, with the rest 50+ numbers coming from International participation.
This was a different experience for me, as at times, I had to pay heed to the problems and requirements of each delegate individually, like Visa related documents or MoU with schools/colleges who were sending in delegation groups. To manage them all was a task that extracted all my dedication. The additional responsibility of co-ordination with the rest of the teams was a task of its own. From macro-management issues like finances coming through to venue arrangements being made, to micro-management issues like the timings given to each committee as breaks to ensure the continuum of flow was quite a daunting task. It was something that, in retrospection helped me realise this angle of my personality.
The event culminated successfully, much to the appreciation of the various stakeholders involved, the touchstone of that being the special mention that our club got in the annual citation of the Rotary International President, appreciation the Rotaract Club of DTU for their dedicated efforts to end this event as a success. The opportunity to head such an event and manage issues ranging from minute to the biggest ones was unarguably the biggest achievement of my life, that has helped me realise some key aspects of my own personality and character.