Part A:
Life was always big with ABG
Sipping coffee with a friend from NIFT Bangalore, I was given a good news. She had made it through to an internship with Aditya Birla Fashion and Retail Ltd. Surprised, because until then I just knew about Aditya Birla Group’s presence in cement, aluminum and finance industry, I congratulated her. What an irony for a person wearing Allen Solly t-shirt and jeans! I was unaware that the conversation that would follow will open my ignorant eyes about ABG forever.
While “Freshwrapp” brought back those sweet childhood memories of school and lunch boxes, “Pantaloons” reminded me of how I used to pester my parents to take me shopping to the newly opened store in Bhubaneswar when I was 12. Dancing to “Hello Honey Bunny” became one of the best memories of my school days. ABG had subconsciously become a part of my life, so much so that the first check I ever received for my hard work was invested in Aditya Birla Sun Life Mutual Fund. What an idea it was sirjee, providing me with the solutions like “Get Idea” when I was short of answers. Also addressing Abhishek Bachchan’s dilemma of “How to provide education for all?”, it made people dream big. With Idea, nobody could cheat you as “No Ullu Banoing” became a mission.
Now, when I look back and think of my unawareness, I smile in gratitude to Aditya Birla, for it didn’t mind. It still kept providing me with the best of memories, so it will forever. And that’s what makes a difference.
Part B:
What stops you? You.
History holds proof to the statement that “confidence to succeed” and “learn from failure” have been two aspects that have shaped the world as it is today. It is these two traits that certain individuals carried that shaped generations.
Ever since I was capable enough to understand the complexities associated with life, I have been instructed and advised to be confident and not to fear failure. But, something in me had always tried to push me away from accepting that. Was I confident? Always. Did I treat failure as a step to success? Never. Sounds contradictory, doesn’t it? Let me explain.
Whenever I had some responsibility to fulfill, I did it with utter enthusiasm and dedication knowing that it would be successfully completed. That’s confidence. But, the fear as to “what am I going to do in case it fails?”, “what is the world going to say?” kept playing on my mind. That, in turn affected my productivity. I couldn’t live with my own failure. Where did that bring me? Back to square one. So, I started working on it.
Welcoming criticism was the first step. Filtering the productive ones from those that did me no good was next. Keeping my fears aside, I decided to join the marketing team during my internship at a startup. I began facing people upfront. What made me take this step is my belief that the more rejections I face, the more I start accepting the reality. That experience genuinely transformed me as a person. Further, my decision to work as Sales Manager in a firm, where I worked for a year helped me eradicate that fear. It’s for that reason I am here today, pursuing MBA at one of the most prestigious institutes in the country. Acceptance is what makes a person grow stronger. Accept your weakness, work on them. Doesn’t matter if you fail. It’s you yourself who has to stand up again and fight it.
#ABGLP #ABGWOOME #XIMB #ABGWOOMESEASON-2