Why Aditya Birla Group is big in my life
Aditya Birla Group barely needs any introduction. We all know it to be one of the largest Indian conglomerates with operations in 35 countries and over 100,000 employees. I have grown up listening to stories about Birla family, but this challenge really got me thinking how much Aditya Birla Group has influenced my life at various stages.
Childhood is the best part of life, thinking about my childhood memories always makes me happy. A wonderful part of my childhood was travelling with Indian railways. My parents were travel enthusiasts and we travelled a lot to various parts of the country. Indian trains are not just a mean to get somewhere from somewhere, they are a whole ecosystem in themselves. You get to meet and interact with so many different people from different cultures. Exploring different parts of the country and interacting with such diverse people was an amazing experience for me. This experience has always helped me to deal with different people and understand their perspectives. I was surprised to know that high speed trains contain about 20 tonnes of copper components and Birla copper was instrumental in building this wonderful memory by fulfilling the copper requirements of Indian railways.
Once I finished my engineering, it was time for me to enter the corporate world and leave my teenage years behind. Knowing that it is going to be challenging, I had to be prepared for it in every aspect. Confidence was going to be a key for my advancement in this world. Dressing well can increase one’s confidence. If I am dressed appropriately and comfortably, I know that I would be able to present myself in the best possible way. Coming from a mid-tier town, Indore, I had very few options to buy formal wears. I was fortunate enough to have Pantaloons and Van Heusen outlets even in a small town such as Indore. They were my first exposure to formal wears and consequently helped me have a successful career so far.
Corporate life comes with many challenges, one of the challenges it threw my way was, surprisingly, the Bangalore traffic and commute hours. Bangalore is infamous for its traffic and it can take you hours to travel to work every day. Fortunately, my office was commutable via Bangalore metro. This saved me hundreds of hours while I was staying in Bangalore. Aditya Birla Group’s Ultratech cement is at the core of the Bangalore metro rail project and has contributed 0.37 metric tonnes of cement to build the infrastructure for this project.
Small things in life can make a huge impact. Without any idea how ‘Idea’ would change my life, I chose an Idea telecom SIM in 2016. Incidentally, one of my friends who was living in another city also had an Idea SIM and we could talk for hours every day due to a very affordable network plan. Eventually, I fell in love with this beautiful soul and those endless talks lead to an eternal relationship.
Looking back at all these events in my life, I can definitely say that Aditya Birla Group has played a subtle but very important role in my life.
How I overcome challenges to achieve my ambitions
Success comes to those who take risks. I had heard this so many times but never understood its importance until I was faced with a decision which would make or break my career. After graduating from my engineering college, I, like so many others joined a multinational software company in Bangalore. They trained me for few months in different technologies and languages and then, when I was excited and ready to take on the challenges with my new found knowledge, they put me on the dreaded bench! I had no projects in my hand and was required to spend an aimless 8 hours in the office every day without doing anything productive. There were no decent development projects for me on the horizon either, I discussed with my manager and was told that I would be getting only support roles and lower tier projects for foreseeable future. Disheartened but determined, I started searching for other opportunities outside my company. Over the time I realized that if I continue to come to the office, I would not be able to prepare adequately and appear for my other job interviews. I was just 21 and living alone for the first time in my life in a metro city which was completely new to me. My parents and friends, all advised me against leaving my job and be happy with whatever I have in my hands. Many people would kill for the job you have, they said. But I realized that If I continue to be in the job which I did not like and see no future in, only thing getting killed would be my ambitions. If I did not take the risk then, I would suffer forever. I gathered all my courage and self-believe and resigned from my job. I had little to no savings and could barely pay the rent for one month. I had to survive on Parle-G or save the complimentary breakfast from my PG accommodation for lunch. I could not have told my parents about my decision as they would have not supported it, hence I had no financial or emotional support. Times were hard but within a month I had two offers in my hand, both from much better company than my previous company and with the role I wanted. This one and half month was probably the most important time of my life. I learnt how important it is to take risks and have faith in my abilities. With effort and hard-nosed attitude, we can overcome any challenge life throws our way.