Aditya Birla Group is the name I grew up listening to. I was a kid, back in 3rd standard and knew little about this world. My world revolved around my home and my second home i.e. my school. Each day was so typical and boring, the same hurry to catch the auto-rickshaw every morning and after the school got over my tired-eyes surveyed through the large gathering of parents who came to pick their wards, looking for my Papa. But then I used to pull myself down to reality, realizing that It has been just a few weeks when he turned up at my school gate to pick me up.
My father was into a profession that didn’t provide him with the luxury of spending some time with his family. The day he came to pick me up from my school, seemed to be a day of celebration, as it was a rare occasion to see him back from work. Whenever I asked him what work he does and why doesn’t he come to see me more often. He replied with a smile on his face, telling me he works for an Industrial giant, Aditya Birla Group and adds a fascinating story to it explaining how big machinery works in the mines to extract metals from the earth. He also told me the aluminium wrap used to keep the food I take in my tiffin box, home fresh was from Freshwrapp, another product of Aditya Birla Group.
My father owned a car and worked as a driver at Essel Mining & Industries Ltd, Koira and when he returned home, he brought some gifts, telling me that his organization has sent him home to meet his boy and has given him the gifts to pass on to him. One day, he bought home a mobile phone with Idea Cellular sim and told me how I can talk to him anytime I want, distance won’t matter anymore. I was all excited and that moment I felt “What an Idea, Sirji”. Aditya Birla Group was like an angel for me who fulfilled my childhood dreams.
I grew up understanding the reality that my family had to deal with each day. My Papa worked so hard, going for overtime to meet our family expenses and bearing the cost of my elder brother going for an MBA. Very early in my life, I learned that “No meal comes free”. The tales of big machines tearing the ground apart, I heard from my father, it motivated me to become an Engineer. I understood the very essence of hard work, I had to toil hard to get into a government engineering college as that would help my father save a fortune and I would realize my dream at the same time. While I was in college, my elder brother joined Aditya Birla Fashion and Retail Ltd as Assistant HR. Though my father had retired by that time, Aditya Birla Group remained intact. After I joined college, my brother took me to a Pantaloons store and got me a pair of formal wear of Louis Philippe. Whenever I wore that I felt like being on the upper crest.
Looking up to my brother, I too wanted to go for an MBA degree. In the final year of my under-graduation, I appeared for CAT and XAT to get into a B-School. The results were out and I didn’t fare well in the entrance examination. I just wanted to join any B-School desperately. I still remember the wise words of my brother, “Either you can go with this score and join any mediocre B-School, or have faith in yourself and give it another try and then join a Premier B-School, as you do MBA just once in your life”. I gathered all my courage, packed my bags and went for another go.
The stay with my brother at Kolkata was exciting and challenging at the same time. I managed my preparation, helped my brother in household works and did two internships to self-fund my interest in reading books. Sometimes when things didn’t turn up the way I wanted in some mock-test and I felt frustrated, he motivated me with the tales of the rich culture of Aditya Birla Group, the opportunities it provides to talented individuals, not just in India but in the entire world. Then I learned how big Aditya Birla Group is. Finally, I cleared my entrance exams and ended up in one of the best B-School in India, Xavier Institute of Management, Bhubaneswar.
Throughout my life, Aditya Birla Group remained constant.
#ABGLP #ABGWOOME #XIMB
