Active across 14 business verticals and with a CSR outreach that touches 7.5 million people across geographies, it’s safe to say that Aditya Birla is and has been
big in all of our lives. From something as massive as the roads we traverse daily to something as tiny (yet impactful) as carbon nanoparticles that make our tyres safer; from selling two garments every second to manufacturing every third aluminum can in the world; the business may be a USD 44.3 billion corporation but takes to its social responsibility just as enthusiastically. Whether it’s healthcare, education, nutrition or electricity, ABG has been among the flag bearers of transcending business boundaries and going the extra mile through impactful welfare-driven activities across geographies.
For me, the most conspicuous associations have largely been around Vodafone Idea Limited and Aditya Birla Fashion and Retail.
My idea cellular subscription has been my rock solid support for the last ten years, ever since I got a taste of having a personal mobile phone and it has played witness to every possible emotion and news that I’ve experienced in my growing up years. From my teen tantrums with my parents to those serious, quiet nights during boards; from me sobbing into the phone to a friend when I’m low to the confident and structured answers given as part of interviews; from the dreaded call from parents when I’ve bunked classes to the good news that came with achievements and professional successes, it has heard it all. Above all, it has
given expression to the new me.
My affair with the fashion and retail arm, although went through a fair bit of ups and downs during my growing up years where I was seeing Pantaloons for a bit albeit in an open relationship, has now turned into a steady, every day relationship with Van Huesen and Allen Solly with formals at SIBM Pune being an almost-everyday affair and we’ll likely seal the deal as full-time partners in 2021.
The leadership program run by the group, at its very core, thrives through people that are open to new challenges and believe in create an impact no matter what they do. There have been certain instances in my life where I’ve been able to emulate this ethos and work towards my ambitions along the way.
Inspite of having high scores on my 12th standard examination, having to go to a state-ranked college for pursuing B.Com (Honours) wasn’t really my idea of graduation and three years later, it still wasn’t. I ended up going to a place where my peers only cared about notes and rote learning, and exams and marks. Any talk of inter-college competitions, committees and clubs besides an odd cricket event here and there would only feature once in six months and fade away just as quickly as it came without any action.
Eventually, the lack of stimulation and activities began to eat at me and I realised I needed to do something about it and I started looking for opportunities outside of college and started pursuing multiple internships. One of the internships that I took to was with Delhi-based Eat My News Communications- a predominantly student-run community with presence across India and abroad and I was on boarded as a content intern. Little did I know at this point that I would be heading Lucknow operations as City President for them in roughly a month and a half. I was selected to build the Lucknow team from scratch and head the operations for the city over a six month stint with them as a part of their leadership team.
Building the team was just like building anything from scratch- multiple bouts of failure and teething problems before even the ‘S’ of success could be in near sight. There were days I would dread a call from the President to ask for updates, days when I’d given up on the college-going crowd of the city but eventually when it did happen, we got ranked among the top performing teams consistently over my tenure and that made all of the struggle absolutely worth it.
Not much later, I was thrown a second challenge, I was to begin my stint in talent acquisition with the organisation, where I was supposed to take final round interviews for internship applicants from all over India and would be calling the shots on the people who will drive the organisation for the next couple of years besides also being trained to do international interviews.
I’d set out to fill my life with things other than academics but ended up holding some amazing leadership positions and gaining a pile of knowledge in the whole process. Many internships and assignments happened post this but the fire to move into an ecosystem where there’s plenty more to do than just academics stayed and that has only fuelled my energy in the journey to a B-school and at SIBM Pune or any top b-school in the country for that matter, possibly the last thing you have time for is opening the books... so the redemption is only that much sweeter.