5th Dec 2016 was the momentous day of my life. It was the day I joined my first organization and entered the corporate world. Drawing first salary is always special and I had thought of various ways of spending it.
However, being from a middle-class family my father always talks about preparing for the future and has imbibed in me the habit of saving. The biggest gift with my salary that I could have given him would have been to transform those lessons into actions. That is exactly what I did after receiving my first salary. I started investing in a Systematic Investment Plan (SIP) with Aditya Birla Capital – Mutual Funds. ABG group, being a trusted conglomerate in India, was a clear choice to secure my future.
Diwali (or Deepawali as it is called Kannada) is a festival that our whole family awaits every year with enthusiasm and excitement. Preparation starts almost a month prior to the festival and buying new clothes for everyone is one of the significant aspects of it. The Unequivocal choice of all the men in the family for shopping is Peter England and it has been for a decade now. The quality and durability of the products are impeccable. Also, with so much variety, the choice is made quickly, much to the envy of the women in the family. It has become a family convention to shop there before every Diwali and this ABG brand comes home to celebrate the festival with us every year.
Sometimes consequential, sometimes subtle and sometimes like a shadow following along in the walk of life, the ABG group has affected my life in more than one way.
It was the year 2014, I had just entered the 5th semester of my engineering, being selected as the member of Student FSAE team of my college. It was exactly one year from the coveted Formula SAE & Formula Electric Italy competition. It was time for us to take charge of the team from our seniors who had left behind a legacy which we had to carry forward. The challenges we faced during this phase were such that we could have never fathomed.
As we started with our design, we came across so many parameters and variables which were interdependent and uncertain. It was the first lesson that nothing is certain in life, we always need to take risks and make assumptions moving forward.
Funding for the project was another challenge. Logistics, apart from raw material costs and manufacturing cost, was an addition to the burden on the funds due to the distance of the venue of the competition. Although the college supported us partially in financing the project, it was imperative that we get more funding from sponsorship and self-contribution to come close to the competitors that we faced. Then after designing, redesigning, working round the clock on the factory floor and a lot of sleepless nights, the car was ready. Ready to roar on the tracks.
Our woes did not end there. As we reached the competition venue, to our shock and disbelief, we found out that our cargo was damaged, and water had crept inside due to heavy rains. Fortunately, the critical components were still intact, and we rebuilt the car just in time.
Looking back as I embark on to my MBA journey at XIMB, this was the phase that transformed me. Carrying a bag of lessons and sweet memories, I look forward to applying what I have learnt in the times ahead.
#ABGLP #ABGWOOME #XIM