Few conglomerates have the kind of influence in ones’ life as Aditya Birla Group does. For me my earliest recollection of an association with the company comes with the brand “
Freshwrapp”, my mom used to wrap the chapatis of my lunch in using the same & looking back the joy that the product brought me during those numerous school lunches has stayed with me till now.
Aditya Birla Group has the knack of coming up with ad campaigns that have a tendency to stick with you, an advertisement that I profoundly remember is the Ultratech cement ad where a group of engineers are contemplating how they will be able to get a seemingly impossible piece of construction done. Engineers in the ad were made into such inspirational characters for me as a young boy who didn’t even have the slightest idea of what an Engineer is , I knew that I would want to be like the person depicted in the advertisement.
After completing my tenth board examinations my father gifted me a phone with the SIM card being of “
Idea”. I was fascinated by the new mobile phone given to me and was using it to contact my friends & relatives. I remember talking on the phone for hours, having conversations which covered the entire spectrum of human emotions from being ecstatic to being morose. The importance of my first phone along with the service that connected me to everyone around me at that very exciting phase of my life isn’t lost on me.
My understanding of fashion was primarily based on the advertisement I was witnessing on my television set, on newspapers & hoardings. The brands I always fancied were Allen Solly, VanHeusen & Peter England. These brands always commanded a feeling of being premium. When I first realized that these were all part of the Aditya Birla Group I was pleasantly surprised as I couldn’t imagine all these brands being associated to an Indian firm. Looking back at all the myriad number of ways in which the Aditya Birla Group has influenced my life I can surely say that it is has been “Big in my Life”.
Overcoming Obstacles
The struggles of a person & the obstacles that he or she overcomes shapes the personality of that person. I have also had the experience of being under trying circumstance & in front of major obstacle that have in some way or the other influenced me in certain ways of my life.
Growing up I was always interested in sports & kept on venturing into numerous sports & physical activities. I enjoyed playing sports but something I couldn’t easily incorporate in my behavior was to accept defeat graciously. I had gone for a karate tournament when I was 12, where I faced a guy in the second round who managed to beat me. I was devastated at that point, my competitive spirit wasn’t allowing me to accept defeat. I sat down for a couple of minutes & gathered my thoughts, mustered enough courage to go & talk to the person I had just faced in the competition. I congratulated the person for progressing to the next round. I realized at that point that I was able to overcome my flaw of not being able to accept defeat graciously, which made me feel liberated & happy.
A major obstacle I faced came during my 11
th & 12
th standard. I wanted to get through to a decent engineering college for which I was preparing on my own. After certain time I realized that I was lagging behind those in my class who were going to dedicated tuitions that were preparing them for the entrance examinations. I joined a coaching class in my 12
th standard where I found I was completely out of my depth, with people having a much better understanding of the topics that were being taught. The only way in which I could make things better was by putting in extra effort & covering up those topics that I hadn’t covered before. I ended up doing a decent job with the entrance exams & made it into a decent enough college.
During my engineering in Electronics & Telecommunication I realized that I would be better suited for MBA than engineering. I took an attempt at the various examinations of MBA entrance in my final year but unfortunately, I was unable to secure a call from any of the top MBA colleges in the country. I was extremely disappointed at that point but I realized I couldn’t be sitting at a place feeling sorry for myself so I decide to take up a job that will help me gain better perspective into what I will be working on after my MBA. I applied for ZS Associates & was lucky enough to get into it. I applied for all the entrance exams next year as well wherein I was fortunate enough to make it into one of my dream colleges.
All the above experiences have pushed me to a great extent so as to deal with the various challenges I have faced so far. These experiences have molded me into a much more flexible & accommodating person who isn’t perturbed in the face of adversity.