Getting your first job is probably one of the most exciting things, it’s like achieving a big life milestone. With so much excitement comes so much nervousness. Especially if it means moving to a new city. All the things around you change- your home, your neighborhood, your way of living. It’s like starting from scratch. I will now share a little story of my how life changed when I moved to Bombay for my first job.
I was new to the city with no friends or family. I was equally excited and anxious on day 1 of my job. I didn’t know what to expect or what not to expect but Day 1 in office was nice, it felt good to finally join the workforce and be an independent woman (no more needing daddy’s money to pay bills)
My new job enthusiasm to learn and grow was all high until it struck 6 on the clock. I realized that was time to go home, a place that I barely new with no one around me. Everybody who I knew had been to Bombay or stayed in Bombay told me that flies fast in Bombay, I didn’t feel that. In fact, I felt time held still, I was clueless as to what I should do next to keep myself busy. I then decided to download a few games to keep myself busy for the day until I fell asleep.
While browsing on Playstore I came across a quizzing app. I was a marketing student in my college and my first instinct was to download the app and try the brands section to check my knowledge on available brands. I realized I wasn’t well versed with a lot of brands and decided to read more on them. To my surprise brands that I thought were international were Indian in their own way including Van Huesen, Forever 21, Louis Philippe and many others, these brands were not only Indian but were part of the same parent company too- Aditya Birla. Every time I came across an unknown brand on the app it intrigued me to know more about it. Quizzing had become my new favorite hobby so much so that I started doing it with almost all brand names that I saw around me. I would literally look around the room to find a brand name and try guessing its origin and check whether I was right about it by reading up on it. In simple terms, I would notice a brand and guess whether its international or Indian and how they started operations. Soon this changed into guessing whether the brand was under Aditya Birla Group or any other parent company. So many brands that I thought were international were part of the Indian conglomerate- not only international brands but I came to realize that the Aditya Birla Group is widespread across all sectors.
I was finally content because I found a way to keep myself busy, not only for the day but for the weekend too. No, I didn’t mean quizzing. This time my plan was to spend time at an NGO with underprivileged kids. Right from school, I have been involved in social service, it gives me satisfaction that no other activity can give. I decided to do the same in my new city, hoping it would be beneficial for the kids and for me.
Then came Saturday, the day I had been looking forward to with an agenda in mind. This turned out to be more exciting than I thought. The little kids were super excited to have someone new around them and seeing their lit-up faces I knew I had made the right choice. There is so much that I learned that day, those little kids taught me that you don’t need much to be happy. Not only that but I also happened to meet a few people who were also volunteering, I call them friends now. And yes, I showed them my newly picked up habit of brand quizzing and shared my newly learned information about Aditya Birla Being the parent company to so many brands. Soon going to the NGO on weekends became a part of my life and the people who I met there became my family in Bombay – both the kids and the volunteers.
With time Bombay started feeling like home and leaving Bombay to join college again for my MBA program felt like leaving home for the second time.
With time I realized small things keep happening without us realizing which happen to hold more meaning when we look back at the bigger picture. By the way even after 2 years I am equally fascinated by the Aditya Birla Group as I was back then which makes me draw an analogy “bit by bit we add experiences to our life to draw the big picture just the way brand by brand were added to the ‘Aditya Birla Group’ to make it stand where it is right now”.