PART A-WHY ABG IS BIG IN MY LIFE?
Business is the cornerstone of prosperity in society. Every society thrives for betterment where people can live in harmony and prosper, where one can optimally use the resources and change them into something which can make life simpler as well as contribute in society’s progress by driving country’s economy and creating employment.
Also, every consumer desires for a market offering value-for-money products and services that facilitates smoother life and satisfaction.
And lastly, every graduate dreams of working in a company that aligns its own objectives with its employee’s satisfaction and desires. Every graduate dreams of having a perfect work-life balance that grooms him both professionally and socially.
A stellar example, putting ticks on all the check boxes for objectives mentioned above, is
Aditya Birla Group, a vast Indian multinational conglomerate. Operating across 35 countries, employing more than 1 lakhs employees, ABG is a well known name that impacts people’s day to day life positively without them knowing the innumerable efforts being put into it to deliver unmatched value to its consumers, stakeholders, employees and society.
Personally, I still remember the first time ABG made an impact on my family back in 2000, when I was just 5 years old and my father got his 1
st sim card for his brand new mobile phone. The sim card was
IDEA’s which I later realized when I got some understanding about the outer world, was a joint venture of ABG. And later it further came to my knowledge that the aluminum foil my mother has been wrapping my parathas and chapattis into,for my school tiffin was
HINDALCO’s which was another subsidiary of ABG. Just like I mentioned earlier, excelling business ventures impact our life on day to day basis even without us knowing about the huge efforts put behind it to deliver supreme value.
Also, later when I saw my father shopping for himself from
Peter England and
Grasim, I was surprised to know that these too were part of ABG’s retail store enterprise. And finally, to rest my curiosity when I further dug into the sectors where ABG had its root sunk into, I was just blown away by the fact that ABG was parent firm for
Louis Philippe, Van Heusen, Allen Solly, Ultra Tech cement, Pantaloons, Aditya Birla Capital. All of these have been a part of my life in some way or the other, whether it be shopping for my birthday party, or cousin’s marriage or constructing a small cemented wall in my backyard. I have even invested in Aditya Birla capital Mutual funds as of now.
So, it’s pretty evident that ABG have had a great impact not only in my life, but its construction projects, fashion retail stores, telecom services etc. have boomed our economy, satisfied the consumers for ages now and they have even lent a helping hand to a number of startups in shaping future and helping India stand as a pillar of supremacy in global market.
PART B-HOW I OVERCAME TOUGH TIMES
Just four days before the commencement of my 4
th semester exams, I suffered from a serious injury , an excruciatingly painful ligament tear in my right knee during the practical of PT & games which made it impossible for me to walk or even bend my knee to sit, let alone study. I remember that I wasn’t even able to walk to bathroom without anyone’s help. I was advised surgery and one month’s bed rest. The injury wreaked havoc to all my planning for my exams and left me physically and mentally drained. I learnt an important lesson that day that we should
NEVER EVER PROCRASTINATE. But as I was still determined to score well, I pushed myself and shifted my focus from pain to preparation. My efforts paid and I secured a CGPA of 8.43, my best till that moment. Also, as I had delayed my surgery for a month and was on bed rest the entire time, my calf and thigh muscles grew loose and it demanded mountains of effort to gain back strength. After rigorous physiotherapy, involving working through arduous exercise, screams due to unbearable pain and sleepless nights of emotional and mental trauma regarding my physical shortcomings, I recovered. This experience strengthened my resilience. It taught me that having patience is vital and the determination to never give up, necessary. It made me realize that dark days come in everyone’s life, but the attitude to deal with it determines the scale of damage it does to our wellbeing.
Apart from this, recently our family faced some tough times. Back in July 2018, my brother in law was diagnosed with glioma (brain tumor). This was the time I was doing job and preparing for my management exams alongside. This terrible news wreaked havoc on my family emotionally. My sister was in trauma and so were all of us. My brother in law’s parents were totally devastated and due to urgency of treatment and procedures, my uncle (brother-in-law’s father) could not give attention to his own business venture. This was the time I took the biggest risk of my life, I quit my job, came to aid and support my family and helped my uncle by looking into his business venture, when he was away for treatment and procedures. I was determined to do well in my management exams and continued with whole heartedly. Soon, after the operational procedures and therapy treatment, my brother in law recovered well and I cracked my management exam with good percentile which helped me get calls from many colleges of top tier in management. I am proud of the way my family and myself dealt with such a grieving and tough situation and we all emerged as winners. It was an experience that made me a better person in terms of patience, determination, care and emotions.
#ABG #ABGWooMe #ABGLPWooMe #VGSoM #IITKGP
AEKANSH SRIVASTAVA
VGSoM IIT KGP
MBA 2019-21