“In a gentle way, you can shake the world.” – Mahatma Gandhi
Very few people or organizations in the world can rightly claim to have followed the eternal words of the Mahatma mentioned above. Aditya Birla Group (ABG), unarguably, is in the league of those select organizations. That it is the third-largest private sector conglomerate in India, with revenues totaling US $44.3 billion and employees exceeding two lakh, makes this accomplishment even more staggering.
Since 1857 when Aditya Birla Group started operations, it has built an ecosystem of diverse products used in equally diverse industry segments, ranging from UltraTech Cement – the choice of every builder in the construction industry to Vodafone-Idea – India’s largest telecom network. All this while maintaining, or in most cases improving, the quality standards envisioned by its founder Shri Seth Narayan Birla.
Aditya Birla Group has been an integral part of my life since childhood. My mother, afraid of the toxicity in aluminum foil, initially used to wrap the chapatis in my lunch in the newspaper. It was only after my father informed her of Hindalco foil wraps that her fears were inhumed, and she shifted to Hindalco foil. That was the trust my parents had on the quality of ABG products, and that is what I imbibed. The very first phone network I subscribed to was Idea, that offered the most reasonably priced talk-time and SMS packs, among its peers. Vodafone-Idea built on its success and is now recognized as the network of the common man, providing internet services to millions of Indians at affordable prices and making diligent strides towards the “Digital India” dream of our Hon'ble Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi. I also remember the day I informed my father that I had landed a job with a “Big 4” consulting firm. My father, aware of the impeccable formal culture of the firm, took me to a Peter England store to purchase suits for me. He had tears in his eyes as we came out of the store because he knew that the fact that we had shopped at a Peter England store meant I had accomplished something big. I am sure that as my house, there is at least one story in every household in India and many other parts of the world, that has ABG products at its center.
“No one succeeds without effort… Those who succeed owe their success to perseverance.” – Ramana Maharshi
The above quote summarizes my twenty-five years of life journey accurately. Born into a family of limited means, I always had a dearth of resources that my peers took for granted. I always had to work a little harder to make my presence felt. As I realized the importance of hard work and perseverance from the very early stages of my boyhood, I excelled in academics right from day one of school. Furthermore, my teachers, realizing my potential, nudged me towards extra-curricular activities, and I participated in several intra-school as well as inter-school competitions including debates, quizzes, and extempore. The high point of my school life came when I was chosen the Head Boy for the academic year 2011-12. The same academic year I was asked to represent my school in Model United Nations as a General Assembly delegate. All these values helped me during my JEE preparation as well and I got an opportunity to study Mechanical Engineering from the prestigious Delhi College of Engineering.
A remarkable experience that brought out the best in me happened in the year 2015 when I was in my third year of engineering. In the autumn of that year, my father had some health issues and was advised bed-rest by the doctor for six months. This situation threw the financial planning of my lower-middle-class family out of gear. Instead of losing time in despair, however, I decided to act. I spent fifteen days searching for a part-time job and finally landed one as a physics tutor at a local tuition center in my locality. For the next six months, I balanced my college life during the days and work life in the evenings – that many times ran into late nights. Sleepless and burnt out, I focused on every small step that I took, and slowly managed to maneuver my family through that difficult phase. As I look back, I realize that all the hardships that I faced were a message of God for me that read, “It’s a test of your character. Keep going, I know you have it in you to make it.”
#IIM Raipur #ABGLP #ABGLPWooMe