PartA
Aditya Birla Group (ABG) is many things rolled into one. A Fortune 500 company with an enviable net worth of US $44.3 billion, a brand that has collected numerous accolades over the past 15 years and a humongous conglomerate that caters to the needs of every person or entity out there, be it in the manufacture of Infrastructural Capital goods, Fashion, Telecommunications or Financial services. ABG has etched a name for itself in the Hall of fame of Indian corporates. Its tagline ‘Taking India to the world’ is quite commonplace in print and digital media. ABG takes tremendous pain to make sure its commercials are clean and family-friendly in an expletive-ridden Ad-space. Also, its offerings are known for their classiness and reliability.
A personal experience I would vouch for is Aditya Birla’s range of clothing brands. Allen Solly, Louis Philippe, Peter England, and Van Heusen are quite the stand-alone products in their own right and offer the wearer a sense of sophistication and comfort previously unheard of. Right from the fabric to the sewing style they use, the brands are impeccable in every way imaginable and don’t crease under pressure. ABG’s insignia, a rising sun, seems to bode well with its infrastructural businesses, the brands Ultratech and Hindalco have the hallmark of being used in a number of famous construction projects, both in India and around the world. In the segment of telecommunication, the merger of Vodafone and ABG’s very own Idea cellular into a 4G LTE (Long Term Evolution) Network has propelled ABG to the pedestal of being the largest telecom operator in India.
Another important point to touch upon would be ABG’s Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) projects. ABG’s hospital services, immunisation camps and mid-day meals for school children have positively impacted the lives of millions of people in India who otherwise do not have access to such services.
Part B
Looking into the past, there have been quite a lot of challenges that I have faced in my life. Both on the professional front as well as the personal front. But I believe that your personal life has an impact
In my life, I have travelled to different parts of India, since my father has a transferrable job. It’s not easy to know that you won’t be at a particular place for not longer than 3-4 years. Learning new cultures, languages, meeting new people, making new friends, it all seems difficult, especially to someone who is not so much of an extrovert. I remember, the first time I moved from my native place to Chhattisgarh, I failed in my exam in Hindi and Sanskrit. It was my first exposure to Sanskrit and the level of Hindi was a bit too much. It was hard to understand Hindi let alone converse, and this was when I was 9 years old. Because of this, it was really hard to make friends, since people weren’t really enthusiastic about talking in English when they already had friends who could talk in Hindi. It was a time when I was kind of depressed. But I, along with a lot of support from my family, had the will to not stop trying. Luckily I also was able to find a really good friend who helped me adjust myself to the new surroundings. Eventually I learnt the language and made a lot of friends. This was the single turning point in my life. If I had just given up then, then maybe I would have turned out to fail in other subjects as well. So, yes, Never give up, would be my motto.
