It was as a high school student that I came across this powerful commercial which ended with these words - 'Aditya Birla Group , taking India to the World'. Very few groups can stamp their authority with such class as ABG. ABG is a story of grit, determination and passion. Born out of a family which dreamed of conquering horizons from their arid roots of a 19th century desert town, the Birlas braved many a storm. To think that an Indian could have his own jute empire in 20th century British India and later negotiate the difficulties of the notorious 'License Raj' by establishing factories in Thailand is a vindication of the very same words which would become their group slogan - 'Taking India to the World'. While in our daily lives we cannot help but be touched by ABG in some way or the other, it was through books that I came to know the group much better. Traveling back after a round of shopping, I continued through Gurcharan Das' India Unbound. There was a sense of awe and admiration reading through G.D Birla's association with the freedom struggle and his companionship with the Mahatma all the while smiling satisfactorily within while glancing at the Van Heusen merchandise I had bought. Today the group conglomerate touches our lives in many ways be it the clothes we wear, the mobile networks we use or the cement which goes into our surrounding buildings. In many ways Aditya Birla Group represents the ethos of our 2000 year old civilization - we have both re-imagined and reinterpreted ourselves with the changing times, Aditya Birla isn't what it was a 100 years back and so isn't India and that is what lends its timelessness to us.
I have always believed in the idea that our life is a cyclic struggle towards improvement and freedom, everyday try to make our lives better than before, all our actions are focused at negotiating life as it happens. Incidentally our story is not very different from the ones ABG faced in its 150 year old history. To know what one is destined to di in life can sometimes be a luxury and hence we all make our way through a maze of challenges and choices. I have always treated life as turn based strategy game with fate. With every choice I have made be it with leaving the comforts of education opportunities near home to study at a relatively unheard of place to finding out whether I can become a quizmaster like Derek O'Brien, the game of life has always thrown me unique challenges to overcome. Challenges are like guiding posts in a life which is akin to an endless ocean with a sure end. I remember the difficulty in clearing a challenge like CAT because it took me three turns - but in each turn it was a different player playing the game. There was curiosity, wonder and experiment the first time around, there was hard work and a lot of frustration the second time as I juggled my preparations with the hectic schedules of work and the third time it was an aspirant who had matured a lot and took in the difficulties and the pressure as part and parcel of the game. All challenges are inherently difficult and our bodies and mind can conquer all of them, we just need to accept them as our guides and spend time understanding them.
#ABGLP Woo Me, #ABG
