A Juggernaut Called ABG - Mayank Choudhuri, XIMB

Why Aditya Birla Group is a big part of my life

It’s been 162 years since the founding of Aditya Birla Group and the monumental work they have done for this nation cannot be expressed in mere words. Aditya Birla Group products have touched the lives of every single Indian. ABG with $44.3 billion revenue in 2018, is India’s third-largest private-sector conglomerate and gives employment to more than 1.2 lakh employees. Not just the economy ABG has been contributing to the society as well with its 42 schools which provide quality education to 45000 students across India. ABG has been an integral part of my life. I vividly remember the day when I first went with my father to buy a business suit. The choice was between Louis Phillippe and Peter England. Unbeknownst to me at that time, both brands belonged to Aditya Birla Group. The first time I was getting my mobile phone connection my mother suggested me to get a sim card from Idea Cellular because of its superior network. When my grandfather decided to construct the third floor of his house he decided to go with Ultratech cement. One of my most cherished memories is buying my father a Grasim shirt. It was his birthday and I had been saving for a while. Since it would the first time that I was gifting my father something from my own money, I wanted it to be special. After searching for a good premium shirt in the market, I finally settled for Grasim. Every ABG product that I have come across has added some value in my life. I do not doubt that ABG has played a similar role in the life of most Indians.

How I overcame challenges to achieve my ambitions in life

Life is full of challenges. Success is only achieved when one can face those challenges and overcome them. There will be moments in life when things would not go your way, the only thing to do during those times is to stand your ground. The biggest challenge that I faced was during my CA articleship. I was tasked with the sole responsibility of handling the VAT department and that meant dealing with a lot of government officials. The challenge arose when I was tasked with clearing the file of my firm’s biggest client. This client had a variety of transactions and the Income Tax official was slow to respond to my queries. He was unwilling to accept anything which deviated from the norm and was convinced that the expenses were faked to reduce the tax liability. At stake was my reputation at the firm, the relationship with the client and my image in the eyes of my principal, so failure was not an option. I stayed up nights and prepared my case thoroughly, reading through the income tax procedures and preparing additional documents to present to the Income Tax officer. I had to visit the Tax department multiple times and I even agreed to present the documents in the department mandated format, which required an entire reworking of my calculations. Ultimately through relentless persuasion, I was able to convince him to clear the file. What I learned from this experience was that one should never give up. If you know you are right, you will prevail. I could have quit at that time and blamed it entirely on our bureaucratic system, but I didn’t, I stayed put and ensured that the job was done. Such an attitude is needed in overcoming challenges in life.