ABG - Raising The HDI Since 1857! - Aryan Agrawal, IIM Visakhapatnam

Why Aditya Birla Group is big in my life?

The leading multi-product corporation, Aditya Birla Group which currently employees more than 1.2 lakhs people is not only providing a diverse range of products but is also delivering superior values in the financial domain as well as provides invaluable information through its newspaper Hindustan Times. Being at the top position in fashion retail in India, Aditya Birla Group has played a Big part in my life. Allen Solly, Van Heusen, Peter England, Louis Philippe, Lifestyle has altogether filled my closet every season. Vodafone India, the telecom service provider, adds more value towards ABG’s diversification. Another product is Ultratech cement, from being in the room and traveling to various places via roads, from carrying food in the aluminum foil during school days to shopping in Pantaloons, ABG has been all around us. Other brands of ABG such as People clothing, provide good quality products at a much reasonable price. These multifarious and indispensable products that ABG offers certainly uplift the standard of living of people in India. In all respects, ABG justifies its tagline “Build a better, sustainable way of life for the weaker sections of society and raise the country’s human development index.” It is not wrong to say that they understand and are taking care of the products and services that we need in every domain of life. They are continuously contributing towards the education sector as well by associating 42 schools with them and have already provided with more than 12000 scholarships across India. Generation of employment opportunities is huge because of its wide diversification in a different category of products and services.

How did I overcame the challenges?

“Sometimes you learn, grow, and give far more when your back is against the wall.” ― Rasheed Ogunlaru The biggest challenge that I’ve faced till now was to take a decision whether I wanted to continue studying further after my high schooling or assist my father in managing the shop, provided there were financial constraints for higher studies and also my father was the only working member in the family. Although he provided me with full liberty to decide which of these two options I wanted to opt for, yet I was in a fix. Initially, I was inclined towards the 2nd option, i.e., assisting the father in managing the shop, but then I thought about the long-term growth and magnitude of the value addition by me. Alternatively, if I wanted to pursue higher studies, I would have to leave the town for having a better quality education, which would involve additional costs along with education costs. I eagerly wanted to study further, but without burdening my father with the additional living and food costs in a different city. So, the only solution that was visible to me then was to at least avoid those extra costs. To do this, I decided to provide coaching classes to school children during my undergraduate course and earning some amount to compensate for these costs. The next challenge for me was to manage my studies as well as spare time to go to those children’s houses to teach. This, I overcame, with determination and focused in mind and adhering to time management schedule, which would not affect my studies. Ultimately, I started taking this challenge positively, and this has improved my time management skills to a great extent.