Part A: Aditya Birla Group: You are Important to me !!
A conglomerate that is truly Indian.A conglomerate that is based on true ideals and values than just profits or market share.A conglomerate that has seen the worst and the best of the times in its journey of more than 162 years.A conglomerate that has been a part and parcel of every common Indian since 1857.A conglomerate that carries forward its legacy of such a glorious past and its bright future to more than 35 countries with more than 1.2 million employees worldwide. A US $44.3 billion corporation, the Aditya Birla Group is in the League of Fortune 500. Anchored by an extraordinary force of over 120,000 employees belonging to 42 nationalities, the Group is built on a strong foundation of stakeholder value creation. With over seven decades of responsible business practices, ABG businesses have grown into global powerhouses in a wide range of sectors – metals, textiles, carbon black, telecom and cement. Today, over 50% of Group revenues flow from overseas operations that span 34 countries in North and South America, Africa and Asia.
A group that is #1 in Aluminium Rolling, #1 in Carbon Black, #2 in Telecom, #3 in Cement, #4 in Insulators has to have something that has allowed it to keep growing through all possible disruptions in the modern day world. In my opinion, it's because of the values that ABG carries with itself.
Having said all that It's not just about the figures of sales or revenues or countries served.No.Its not about it.It's about the cultural distinction that ABG brings across the plethora of products and services.Whenever we purchase any product that contains that
Brick Red Semi Circular symbol as its label, we tend to feel secure and confident. Yes!! This is a product from the Birla’s. It would be a quality one.That is the sensation ABG brings to the table.
I can still recall the days when the first Pantaloons Store opened in my home city, Kanpur in early 2006-07.Those were the days when the Tier-2 cities were gearing up for the 21st century end user shopping experience.We used to visit Pantaloons and it was a sheer pleasure to shop inside such a comfortable,user friendly shopping store.People were nice enough to clear our doubts,products were of genuine quality, prices were not that high and the most important thing,that FEEL.It cannot be described in plain simple English. Pantaloons has,in the real sense started the Mall Shopping Culture in India at times when there was no such other brand in that domain across the nation.I still remember when I used to visit Pantaloons to purchase one pair of Jockey Boxers from the nearest Pantaloons store in Kolkata(Posted there post engineering) and roam around in the store for atleast an hour or so,drink water at the water dispenser machines,sit at the plush sofas in front of chilled ACs.It was a mesmerizing experience till date and I have not yet found a better alternative than Pantaloons in the Shopping arena.
After graduating from HBTI Kanpur,I got placed at a leading multinational IT firm at Kolkata.New to the city, I was a bit hesitant about the quality of clothing and other stuff that I should go for.One stop solution was Pantaloons!! I was a fresh engineering graduate and since was working with a big Multinational IT major,was a bit sensitive on my dressing sense.One day I called my mother and asked her about which Shirt(Formal) should I purchase for official purpose.She took a minute and asked me to go for 2-3 brands out of which
PETER ENGLAND was one.It may sound a bit weird but I purchased close to 10-12 PE Shirts for all sorts of official purposes.Such was the love for PE shirts. And mind you,It was more of a belief than just love for it.
We were based out of Kanpur and were planning to shift to Lucknow. My father is a Bank employee and my brother is based out of Chennai. So there was no one who could look after the entire process of house construction. So we hired a Architect cum Consultant for the same. Discussions were held. What brand of Cement would be used was one of the important issue. My father proposed UltraTech Cement, to which no one objected. Why? Simple.It was because when our house got constructed in 2013-14 in Kanpur, the same brand was used and till now there have been 0 complaints. Such is the level of belief ABG occupies in our personal space.
There are numerous other ways in which ABG products touch me and my family’s life be it Idea Cellular or Hindalco Steel or Grasim or the recent AB Payments Bank or AB Capital.
There was a Pantaloons advertisement on Durga Pooja featuring three people.I still watch it very often just because I can relate to it.As an average Indian, I never realized as to how ABG touches my life directly or indirectly and makes our life smoother than it was before.Thanks ABG for being there in our lives. Thanks!!
Part B: Not Giving Up on my Dreams:
It was a cold wintery morning of 2017. I had given CAT 2016 and was expecting a decent percentile. With shivering hands, I logged into the website, entered details and that magical wait started. A few seconds later,the magic shattered.I got a below average 79 percentile.Since the preparations were not that great,I was kind of not that sad.I took a vow,I will prepare again.Will give my best this time.I was a working professional.10-6 IT job and then coaching classes from 7-9.30 in the night.It all started again. New coaching,new friends,new teachers. Everything looked so good.I was getting good marks in the tests.Form filling season started and the dream went alive again.Dream to make it to the Best B-Schools of India. Time passed by.CAT season came.I gave all the tests.It went not that bad.The wait started and the hopes started piling up on one another.
Results season was finally there. One Cold January morning.I was on my way to the Office.Suddenly,100-120 messages poppedup in the Whatsapp group.”CAT 2017 Result is Out”.This was it. With shivering hands I logged in to the website and submitted the details.The results popped up.I got a decent 97 percentile.I was elated with joy.But wait.I have got just 78 percentile in the Reasoning section.It was over. No IIM calls would be there. Tears rolled by.I was kind of in a state of disbelief.I went back to the home. Cried a lot that afternoon. Took a day or two off and went back to my home town. My mother being a very strong lady told me not to be disheartened by the same. Next were the IIFT results in line. I was keeping my hopes on it, IIFT being a very prestigious college.The results came and I missed the cutoff by 0.15 marks. It was all over. Over.
I was totally broken from inside.I did not have the mental courage to start it all again.No worries.I asked myself not to accept the defeat.I had to overcome all that. After Life is all about overcoming your fears and doubts.
I started again, the third time. I had shifted to Noida due to office obligations and my coaching center was in Gurgaon. I had to travel for almost 45-60 minutes to reach the venue and back.No Issues. My goal was more important for me than the transit time. Entire year passed by. Exam season came again. I appeared for all the prestigious ones for the third time.
Results came. I scored a whopping 99.53 percentile in IIFT Entrance Test. Secured admission in IIFT. The prestigious INDIAN INSTITUTE OF FOREIGN TRADE. I am writing this article on 05
th of July 2019. My parents came to the IIFT campus last week and we had a detailed photo session at the campus. My mother then said one thing to me
: ‘Koshish Karne Valo ki Kabhi Haar Nahi Hoti’.
This is about my journey from Failures to Success. I learnt one simple thing all through this. Don’t accept what you are not worthy of. Keep trying. It will be yours.