While I was walking down a lane, my eyes went up, looking at a stack of achievements of the Aditya Birla Group: my hat slipped off my head. I bent down to pick up my hat only to realize that the lane was “beautifully” made of Ultra Tech cement. You are more of an emotion than a brand. You have created a sense of reliability and gratification in my life, which is not limited to only my generation. I remember my father gifted me a white Peter England shirt for my first job interview as no doubt it was the “beginning of new things” for me. I still remember my early high school days, when I used to save pocket money to buy a Louis Philippe only to brag my “upper crest” to my school mates. Being in IIFT- far from my home, Agra; Vodafone- Idea makes sure my parents connect to me whenever they miss me. You have filled my life with a cornucopia of novelty and pride. Your journey, right from 1857 especially after 1947 – when it caught the pace – has laid the avenue for many entrepreneurial knights like me. US $44.3 billion – which is one of the greatest numbers in the world- is overshadowed by the CSR activities via which you have uplifted the under-served sections of the society. Besides all these achievements, the best part is that “the sun is still rising”, which means that your impact is set to be bigger and better on us.
My last five years would have been less challenging if I was not proactive. I have a knack of taking initiatives. My biggest learning experience came during the third year of my graduation. My engineering college was in Sultanpur (U.P. west) where we didn’t have annual college fests. When once in 2 or 3 years there used to be a fest, the budget was up to Rs. 4 lakhs. I, along with two of my friends decided to organize a National Level Cultural Fest at our college worth Rs. 22 lakhs – without any financial support from the institute. We planned 1.5 years in advanced wherein the two main challenges were – of course raising such an exorbitant amount and convincing the college authorities for the biggest fest in the history of our college. 1000s of phone calls, 100s of meetings and scores of disappointments, but we established the database of 8000+ alumni which later fetched us Rs. 11 lakhs. Each day was more difficult than the previous one when every day I felt like quitting. I am a big fan of MS Dhoni and admire his ability to take things till the last. I took each day at a time and planned it accordingly. I faced 100s of failures but only one success – The Cultural Fest, Anubhuti’17. I learned to be humble while leading big teams; learned to be a good listener while persuading the college authorities; learned to convince while raising sponsorship and eventually learned selflessness while doing everything for the college and students. This experience is the sole reason why I consider myself capable enough to be here in IIFT.