Do not let your fire go out, spark by irreplaceable spark in the hopeless swamps of the not-quite, the not-yet, and the not-at-all. Do not let the hero in your soul perish in lonely frustration for the life you deserved and have never been able to reach. The world you desire can be won. It exists… it is real… it is possible… it's yours. This line by Ayn Rand has made all the difference in my life from the moment I read it in a college that is redolent with the fragrances of heritage and tradition; Birla Vishvakarma Mahavidyalaya, built with the help of Birla Education Trust. Although ABG and Birla Education Trust are not related in many ways but the values are the same. It was at this college and after it, during which I had my defining moments.
Coming from a family of the dissatisfied and limited means, I always had goals set high for myself, not that it was a compulsion but for me it was the only thing that could make me feel alive and happy. But as they say, great things never came from comfort zones and I saw myself in situations that made me learn that not everything fits in an equation perfectly well as my engineering degree had taught me. It was during my stint with a small scale manufacturing unit producing motors for Food processing units that I understood that overseeing the assembly line didn’t mean just giving directions to people who may not only be older but even know more about the product than a fresh graduate. First month of job and I faced a constant rejection of my directions and my ideas, my team running to their old tune and not even entertaining my presence. It was during that time I grasped the words my mentor from college told me, “as a manager you’ll direct, train and educate people pushing them towards the goal but as a leader you’ll be a manager but then you’ll have to understand the importance of achieving a goal first and then pulling people towards you to do the same”. To overcome the abyss of age and experience, the first thing I did was communicate openly and found a friend who could co-lead the team to help me with my vision. Not only did this help me penetrate into the group but that made sure that I was there to help and look after all the processes. This not only led to an increase in production but also helped me understand that although I loved the opportunity given to me but I would like to leverage this experience with proper education in management. Then came the rush to balance work and my preparations, early morning routines of RCs, PJs, Quant and news to managing the people and chasing deadlines for a certain order to coming back home tired and then again the uphill battle to demolish that one exam that would bring me closer to my goals. But this journey also had its trials and tribulations in the form of losing touch with friends and most of all a burgeoning anxiety and insecurity of not being good enough. Fast forward to now, when I pen this down while in MDI, Gurgaon, the pain, sweat and tears have finally brought me to this juncture, waiting to show my mettle to the world. And this is where I wrote the following poem:
BECOMING
Oh life! Of what I've come to know,
Why shall I not sport a turnt up brow,
Oh me! Of what I've come to realise,
It's as much the end like the journey, my prize,
Oh Warrior! Of who I've come to be a mate,
May be not now but winning; that's our fate,
Oh Jester! Of who I've come to call my kin,
Must we part ways; the oasis from the Bedouin,
Oh dream! Of what I've come through to,
What my heart loves,
I swear, by madness, to win what that
dream behoves.
Oh crimson! Oh life! Oh me!
There's light, just see, see, see...
Having said that, ABG has had humongous share from the moment I can recall of my school days especially recess, when I gathered with my troop, every one fighting for that last snack in my lunch box, packed cosily in Hindalco’s FreshWrapp. I vividly remember how I merrily used to sing the walk and talk jingle for Idea Cellular whenever my diabetic grandfather neared anything sweet and there came the custodian and protector of all things sweet, my grandma and a part time ninja! So the point of these anecdotal statements is not that ABG has been just making waves in the market with all their amazing products but they’ve been silently touching lives and changing them for better. This relation has now grown even deeper into my life, from the moment of wearing Van Heusen to my first B-school interview to now discussing this same article with my mother on Vodafone-Idea cellular network relaxing happily in our newly built home from Ultratech cement, indeed ABG has always had my back through my defining moments and my story as a whole. Not that this is an exhaustive list but yes ABG has been silently catering to the needs of every strata of Indian society. That is something I would love to do in life, make a mark not the noise!
