Part A:
Aditya Birla Capital, one of India’s largest Indian multinational conglomerates. The Company was born in 1857 and now 162 years later it has spread its wings across all the major sectors. Aditya Birla Group serves millions of Indians and started with huge projects in different industries.
It is highly unlikely that anyone would have grown up without using any of the Aditya Birla Group (ABG) products in their life. ABG has been the part of my life too. Madura Fashion &Lifestyle, a division of Aditya Birla Fashion and lifestyle is India’s largest branded apparel companies. Madura Fashion &Lifestyle is defined by its brands-Louis Philippe, Van Heusen, Allen Solly, and Peter England. Since my childhood I have seen my father and mother wearing clothes from ABG brands and now I have added to the legacy of wearing the apparel from ABG. The product range from affordable to luxurious, high-end style and cater to every age group children to men and women. Planet Fashion, official online and offline stores make it even easier for people like me to buy apparel from all Aditya Birla brands under one roof. Pantaloons which was acquired by Aditya Birla Group in 2013 also provides vast varieties of clothing for all age groups and is among one of my favorite place to shop. Aditya Birla Group’s fabric brand Liva has recently expanded itself into men’s wear and home textiles making even a greater mark in the clothing section.
Vodafone Idea limited is also an Aditya Birla Group and Vodafone Group partnership, one of the leading telecom service providers in India. I still remember that my very first mobile phone used to have Idea sim. My first memory of phone always reminds me of ‘Idea’ and at that time also the network coverage of Idea was good even in the hilly areas. Today also the company offers superior voice and broadband connectivity across India, reaching almost ever towns and villages.
Aditya Birla has seven cement plants, with cumulative capacity of 5.8 million tons. It owns brands like Khajurao, Chetak, Samrat and Birla Cement. Houses, factories or any other construction work is incomplete without cement and all my life I have seen construction work (using cement) in almost all the sites including my house done using the brands of Aditya Birla Group including the PVC floor covering. Apart from this Aditya Birla financial services have also been directly or indirectly had made an impact in my life.
Part B: How you overcame challenges to achieve your ambitions in life so far
I completed my bachelor’s in engineering and started working. After a couple of years, I wanted to pursue higher education. Studying in a top B-school was my ambition in life but working towards it was a difficult task. I decided to appear for entrance examinations and prepare for them. This was the most difficult challenge; my home was in the town. I have come down to the city for coaching. The traffic made it worse, I had no preparation time for the entrance examinations, and this made achieving my ambition look impossible. However, I was motivated to overcome this and get admission to a reputed B-school and that too in a single attempt. Once sitting in the cab and gazing out of the window, tired and waiting for the traffic lights of a long signal to go green, I saw a little boy selling umbrellas at the signal. Now this is a very common scenario in a city, however what made it interesting was when the signal turns green the boy would wait on the pavement and read from a small book. I was astonished at his dedication and his obliviousness to the surroundings. I was inspired by his eagerness to learn and realised I have been given the “gift of time”. These 5 hours I spend sitting in the cab during commute could be put to better use. If that little boy can do it on the pavement, I can surely do it in the air-conditioned cab. I started reading up and solving little problems on my phone during this time, thus preparing for the entrance exams. I scored very well and secured admission to achieve my ambition.