Part A
Aditya Birla Group, flourishing with India - IIM Kashipur
Aditya Birla Group has affected each and everyone’s life whether we realise it or not. From the telecommunication services helping us explore the world, to the numerous schools and institutions established by the group in order to improve the standard of education, to branded apparels tailored for the masses, the Birla conglomerate has touched our lives one way or the other.
Started as a jute trading company in 1911 by GD Birla, they are now India’s largest linen fabric manufacturer globally, owning brands like Peter England, Van Heusen and Louis Philippe to name just a few. The group also contributed immensely in the freedom struggle, supporting Mahatma Gandhi in the Swarajya movement, giving Indians a vocal platform by founding Hindustan Times in 1924.
They have come a long way from just cotton and silk traders to being the no.1 producer of Carbon Black in the world. Venturing into numerous other businesses, they are now the leading financial services provider, and among the top 10 cement producers globally.
The group has been actively contributing to the society since its inception. The first of hundreds of schools and colleges established by the group was a high school in their ancestral village of Pilani in 1918, which is now the renowned BITS Pilani. Even today, world’s largest recycler of aluminum Novelis Inc, is an example of the group’s objective of sustainable development. Idea, now in partnership with Vodafone, is India’s third largest telecom provider. The group works with a short term goal of customer satisfaction, and a long term goal of sustainable societal development. It is this combination of history, involvement with the society and huge array of businesses that gives ABG a chance to touch every Indian’s life.
Part B
Lemons, Lemonade and Life - IIM Kashipur
I got the opportunity to do engineering from GB Pant Engg College, a reputed govt funded college, for which I had to take a loan. My father would send me monthly expenses, which always felt like a burden. But there were indispensable expenses, so I started giving tuitions to school kids nearby. By the end of first year I was able to get an annual scholarship sufficient enough for the entire year.
Graduating in 2016, I started paying out my student debt in 2017. I wanted to pursue an MBA degree from a reputed IIM, but with the student loan on the back of my head, this became a huge challenge. I started working on weekends, for the sake of extra money, which would eventually speed up my loan payment. Since the client was Australian, there was not much work on weekends, so I would prepare for CAT in the office. I had my first crack at CAT exam in 2018, and those weekends helped me in both paying up my loan early, as well as to prepare for the exam without any disturbance.
This way I was able to use it in my favor the dual challenge of education loan and work exhaustion in order to pursue my ambition of getting into a reputed IIM. The last installment of the education loan was paid on 1st June, 2019. The same month I got admission to IIM Kashipur.