A reminiscence, to begin with, which took place a year ago, a month after which my grandmother passed away. I belong to a typical middle-class Bengali Family and as we all know the Durga Puja is more than just a festival for us. Since childhood I have grown up seeing the youngsters are gifted with new clothes, as a symbol of love and affection by elders in the family before the Durga Puja. Last year too was no exception . It was the first time I was away from my home during the Durga Puja as I had a lot of important tasks to attend at my workplace. A week before the Durga Puja I received a call from my grandmother. She was bed ridden as she was not keeping good health but somehow managed to speak a few words. The talk was basically that she has given some money to my father as my gift, who will in turn send me the money via fund transfer and she asked me to buy some new clothes with that money, and she specifically mentioned it to buy it from “Pantaloons” and not from anywhere else. That was the last time I talked to her because after a month she died of ill health. Since then, Aditya Birla Group has borne an emotional quotient in my life.
From this incident I could very well gauge about how big an impact has this group had in the lives of people, so much so that someone in her old age, when people generally forget their own name, clearly remembers a brand name and trusts its credibility, although may never have directly been related to it.
Apart from Pantaloons, Aditya Birla Group has been market leaders in almost every front in our economy. From Ultratech Cement to Idea Cellular to Hindalco, Aditya Birla Group is the forerunner in every sphere of the market and is also the 3rd Largest conglomerate in the Indian Private Sector ecosystem. The Aditya Birla Group is also the world's largest producer of “Viscose” staple fiber which is used in textile business and currently the largest manufacturer of carbon black worldwide. To conclude, it says in one of its advertisements,” A VISION BECOMES A MILESTONE WHEN IT TOUCHES MILLIONS OF LIVES!!! “, which Aditya Birla Group has surely done over the years and its contribution towards the development of society and economy of the country has been immense and doubtless.
PART B
“Let them see you cry.
Let them see you sweat.
Let them see you bleed.
Those three drops make you human. Never fear to show your humanity. It’s the bravest act of all.” – TONI SORENSON
I am now at a stage of my life where I can safely say that I have experienced shedding all the three drops at least once in life. You generally shed things from your life only for two reasons, first, when you do not need them and second, when you want to improve on the existing thing. The former is easy because the decision is already made, you do not need them, but the latter is where it makes you take the decision , the question of want comes into the picture , the question about your attitude evolves , once you accept these then shedding of the “human” drops are just the process and after all drops are thrown out , a new “you” evolves more stronger than before. The situations which makes you take the second reason for shedding your “human” drops are called Challenges …
I have been fortunate enough to experience quite a few challenges in my life till date. As expected, I have evolved as a more competitive, more matured, more self-driven , and most importantly a more fearless individual by overcoming them.
To begin with, lets go back to my school days, I was always a good student and also a person who was very natural in outdoor sports and athletics, especially in football. I was the only member of my school team who was also a rank holder in academics, so the onus was double on me. Before a week of our selection examinations, we had a match against another school in the city, which was also the last match for the time being. It was a friendly game but played with a lot of ferocity, so much so I fractured my nose in that game. I could not reciprocate it to my parents as it would terrify them and kept all my sufferings within me. My nose would start bleeding all of a sudden and I would have to run to the washroom to wash it. It would bleed if I sneezed. It would pain at any time of the day. I had to overcome all these without letting people around me know what has happened and also study for the examinations. In spite of the difficulties, I managed to overcome it and score a good mark in my selection examinations. The thing I learnt during this period is giving up on something is never an option.
Next was an incident during the second year of my graduation, where due to some miscommunication from the college I missed the date of registration for university examination. The process to appear for the examination without registering for it was as tedious as it gets and I got to know about it only when we were told to collect the hall ticket, which was three days prior to the examination. To cut it short, I had to file a case in the high court against University on the grounds that the information was not communicated properly, win that proceeding and then only I could be allowed to appear for the examination otherwise I had to repeat my second year. I never thought it would be possible to do all those things within a day or two but I didn’t want to give up on it without a fight. I did all that was required as asked by the lawyer. The tension and the pressure of the situation was so demanding that I started crying sometimes because the negativity in the issue was so immense. My parents supported me as much as they could mostly with the financing. The day I had my first examination, I also had my first hearing at the high court. My lawyer had presented the case well so there was not much intervention from the prosecutor and so the judgement went in my favor and I was allowed to appear for the examination on provisional basis. I had secured a good GPA in that examination and was applauded for my performance both by my faculties as well as my near and dear ones.
By my next incident, I was aware that life is not a bed of roses so took every situation on its merit. I was working with the largest private sector bank at that time in the financial capital of the country as a Relationship Manager in Corporate Accounts. The job profile, as fancy it may sound was too grinding, first, the pressure of delivery in sales is tremendous, second, the weather in Mumbai, both the summer and monsoon is at its extreme. The job required out of office engagements with clients more. The job demanded both physical as well as mental well being at all times , and in addition to this I had this ever growing urge to do MBA so started preparing for the same too. I managed all the difficulties all by myself as I was staying away from my home and now I can say that I managed everything well and I am pursuing MBA from one of the top 20 b-schools in the country.
So, to conclude, I would only say that we should be prepared at all times for everything, we should never complain about difficult situations but face it and overcome it and finally never give up even if things are not going our way because what you receive after overcoming difficulties is called satisfaction, which for me is priceless.