Aditya Birla Group is not just a way of living but a class of success. Certainly, the name echoes a lot of good memories for me. My mother wanted a daughter, so did my dad but I happened, a boy. The first words of the nurse while putting me in the arms of my semi-conscious mother were that your child smiles more than he cries. They together nurtured me as their daughter, never letting me off their sights. It was 2012, I took admission to the sole government engineering college of Jharkhand, BIT Sindi. It wasn’t an IIT but their euphoria was unmatched. My dad inspected all issues in the hostel room, arranging beds as per Vastushastra and rectifying all the electrical faults. Before leaving, my mom cried as if she was doing my kanyadan. I was embarrassed then, but now as I ruminate, I relate to their love. With everything going right came a slight hiccup. The college was remote and only a few networks that had bars of connectivity. My parents grew impatient as their thirst to talk to me was hampered. Back in 2003, we had bought a phone, Nokia 3210 and our first sim card was Idea. Since then, it has been a part of our lives. Overnight, my father arranged for the sim card to be delivered to me. Idea was the network which connected me to my parents again.
I love writing and had this dream to publish my first novel. The draft was ready but alas, the numbers of rejections were many. Kind of, I had lost hope. My dad was nearing his retirement. All he wished was to build a house. He was poor growing up. There were times; he spent his nights sleeping beneath the prism of stairs. During construction work, he would spend hours at the site, taking note of inventory. There were bags of Ultra tech cement stacked. I asked him, “Dad, why Ultra Tech cement?” His answer was, “Son, this house is my baby. Just like I never compromised with anything in your life, I will give this baby of mine, the best of the best. I want to see it grow into a strong and long-lasting identity of our family.” The statement was simple and powerful. Something struck me. The draft of my novel that I had disowned was my baby too. I left it to rot! The same day, I mailed 100s of publishers. In July 2016, after a span of one and a half year, I signed the contract with a publishing firm, ‘Half Baked Beans’. In October 2016, I got my author’s copy with the title of the novel, ‘The Origin Of Martin Krooger’ written in blue, black and white. In November 2016, I signed the first requested copy in Bhubaneswar Crossword. Aditya Birla Group is a conglomerate but for me, it is a class of success.