Aditya Birla Group, the global premium conglomerate known for its innovative brands in sectors like textiles, telecom, cement, carbon black etc. has reached out to millions of people making a crucial impact in their lives.
Knowingly or unknowingly the brands endorsed by the group have added value to my life. From school lunch wrapped in Hindalco’s freshwrapp, to Pantaloons and People for fashion accessories in college, to AllenSolly, Van Heusen and Planet Fashion for business casuals at work, and UltraTech cement for the home reconstruction, the ABG has brought smiles for me and my family at many occasions.
The one being closest to my heart was when I got the first month’s salary at work and I decided buying gifts for my father, mother and brother. With a dilemma in choosing the gifts for them, I finally decided on a leather belt for my father, a wallet for my mother and a formal shirt for my brother but was really unsure of the brand to choose. Believe it or not, I can now confidently say that I chose the best brands in each category namely Louis Philippe, Van Heusen and Peter England. It’s been 1.5 years since then and it gives me immense pleasure seeing them using the gifts. Truly, the brands have kept up the promise of great quality I had entrusted them with.
Words are not enough to explain what I owe to the Aditya Birla Group as a whole. I can only say thank you to ABG for providing me the richest of experiences with the best of its products.
They say, ''When life gives you lemons, make the lemonade out of it''. The analogy is that sometimes there are challenges for which we are not ready but at that point of time, instead of worrying about how to face it, we need to work hard to make the best out of that situation. This is true in its very essence but it took me sometime to apply this in my life.
It was in 2017 that I took my first step in the corporate life, and from there life unfolded a series of challenges for me. From being a college student to being an IT professional spending 9 hours at work, things seemed exhausting in the beginning but more was coming my way. As I got into the project, I worked with people at different onshore and offshore locations and sometimes stayed extra hours at work. One such challenge I faced was when an urgent project deployment had to be done on weekend and my colleagues were on a leave, I was the only point of contact from the offshore location and it was the first time that I was handling such a situation. Initially, I started panicking about the situation but then I realized that I don’t have a choice. I stayed up all night to complete the task within the deadlines. On the next working day, I was appreciated by the project manager and all my colleagues for putting in the efforts and successfully completing the task single handedly. The situation that came my way that day taught me a lesson to trust myself and my capabilities.
Another instance was when a cyclone named ‘Fani’ hit the Odisha coast in May 2019. It was one of those experiences that still scare me. For initial three days, there was no electricity, water and mobile network and for me no food as well. The destruction caused by cyclone was so huge that buildings and trees had fallen, ATMs were not operational and there was no cash in the market. I, along with my colleagues was stuck in the situation in a way that we could not even go to our home as all the flights and trains from Bhubaneswar got cancelled. It was the gravest situation we had ever faced. At that point, most of my colleagues got disheartened but I knew that life had to go on and we can’t escape from the challenges it brings. I then asked them to have courage and stay together holding each other’s back because it was the only way we could have managed those post-cyclone days. Looking back, I know that it was a great learning experience and definitely I grew up, which is what my parents say about me.