PART - A
Aditya Birla Group is one of the three big private multinational conglomerates of India. It has its presence in 35 countries with more than 120000 employees operating worldwide. It started as a Jute Manufacturing Company back in 1919 and later transformed into a leading multi-product firm covering diverse business sectors. Aditya Birla Group has been instrumental in bringing India to the world stage in business on similar lines as Tata Group and Reliance Industries.
Aditya Birla Group has had an impact on our lives in one way or another, be it through Idea Cellular, Grasim cement that later became Ultratech Cement, Aditya Birla Hospital, fashion brands like Peter England, Van Heusen and many more. Millions of people, knowingly or unknowingly, have used their products and services.
In particular, Idea cellular has impacted my life more than any other segment of ABG. Back in 2005, when landline phones remained out of service most of the time, Idea was the first operator to set up a cellular network in my city. My parents had sent me to the city to pursue a better education. Idea ensured that my parents were just a phone call away and I could talk to them whenever I wanted.
Also, ABG has helped my father realize his dream of building a house. It was Grasim cement that had helped him lay the foundation of his dream house. Fast forward 19 years, the association with ABG continues. We are currently in the process of renovating the house and guess what, Birla White Wall Care Putty has been a great help of late!!
So yes, ABG’s presence in our life is and will always be immense.
PART – B
Everyone feels the butterflies and anxiety when starting the first abroad trip from India. This is about the experience of my first onsite trip to Bucharest, Romania. In December 2017 I got the chance to work from the client office of a leading European Bank. I, as an application developer, was responsible for developing the new features for their mobile banking app.
iPhone X had just been launched and with it came the disruptive Face ID. In simpler terms, I had to develop a functionality wherein a user can log in to the application using his face. Since the technology was new at that time I had to do a lot of research as to how to implement the requested feature. Also, I had to coordinate with my offshore team members. So, I would stay late at night, collect the requirements and expectations from the product owner and again reach the office in subzero temperatures at 6 am so that my colleagues at offshore didn’t have to wait (there was a time difference of 3.5 hrs.). It became increasingly challenging as the client started pushing more concerning the deadlines. They wanted to become the first European bank with this feature and earn some bragging rights.
After multiple sleepless nights and lots of brainstorming sessions with my colleagues in India, we were able to deliver this feature and the bank went live into production as per the timeline. The bank’s customers welcomed this feature and left great reviews on the Apple app store. As a result, the credibility of the bank to getting on board with the latest technology increased manifolds. For this achievement, we received lots of appreciations from the client and most importantly from the Vice President of the CTO division.
I have worked in India under different circumstances but when I was working from the client location the situation was a bit different. There I felt the pressure of greater responsibility, accuracy, and timeline. The work was challenging but I enjoyed the pressure and a different working environment.
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