PART A – Why is Aditya Birla Group big in my life?
Ans). Aditya Birla Group has ventures in almost all principal areas of business ranging from cement, textile and aluminium industries to financial services including mutual funds and insurance and even comprises of carbon black, multi-brand retail stores, etc. Each of these activities are core activities and thus touch upon my life extensively and ubiquitously every single day.
Aditya Birla Fashion and Retail markets the extremely popular readymade garments brands such as Allen Solly, Van Heusen, Forever 21, Louise Philippe, Peter England and many more. These are brands which young adults like me favour for their clothing requirements. In fact, if it were not for the well-fitted suits of Van Heusen and Allen Solly, I would not have gained the confidence to face the interview panels of B-schools. Apart from these individual brands, Aditya Birla Group also handles the multi-brand retail chain, Pantaloons which has always acted as a saviour for me to satiate any sort of shopping needs ranging from casuals to fancy to formals.
For my connectivity requirements, I have been depending on Vodafone since the past 3 years and have never faced any sort of major issues. With Vodafone and Idea merged, Aditya Birla Group is now a major stakeholder in the same with part management control. With its experience in the telecom sector combined with that of the erstwhile giant Vodafone, I believe that the connection will now get stronger and better.
For my grocery and miscellaneous needs, I have always relied on Big Bazaar as it truly represents its tagline – “Naye India ka Bazaar”. The value for money is really maintained here and for cash strapped students like me it is a huge bane.
Apart from these obvious ones, Aditya Birla Group has continued to affect my life in many other discreet ways as well. Pursuing my MBA IB from IIFT, I have been living in a hostel and attending classes in a building made of UltraTech Cement, the largest cement manufacturer in India. The window frames of the same are made of aluminium manufactured by Hindalco, the aluminium arm of Aditya Birla Group. The contribution of Grasim which produces carbon black cannot be denied too as it is the raw material used to manufacture the paint utilised in my room and even in the tyres fitted to the taxi which brought me here closer towards my dream. And the money without which I would not have been able to pursue my dream in the first place came from my parents’ investments which were being managed by Birla Sunlife.
Not just through products, but Aditya Birla Group has also made a huge impact on my life through its ideals, beliefs and its way of conducting business. It is one of the most tax compliant companies in India with a strong focus on CSR activities. It also stands apart for its no-nonsense approach towards business and focusses on building upon its strengths, maintaining financial discipline and tuning its business according to changes in the environment. All this impressed upon me the importance of ethicality, flexibility, diligence towards learning new things and helping others. It helped me to develop the appropriate mindset necessary for becoming an MBA student.
With its omnipresence, Aditya Birla Group has left a mark in every sphere of my life and will continue to do so forever more with its strong ideals and quality products.
PART B – How I overcame challenges to achieve my ambitions in life so far?
Ans). Every person in her life comes across certain situations which obfuscates her as to what path to follow. She may sometimes even lose track of her ambitions and desires and give up on her dreams. It is in these moments that a person’s true character emerges and if she is able to sustain the hardships, she comes out stronger than ever.
I have also been fortunate enough to come across certain challenges in my life, some even from pretty intimate quarters. I say fortunate as I believe these instances of difficulties helped shape my personality and made me the person I am today - wiser, mature and responsible.
Being from a Bengali household and being a topper throughout school, I was naturally expected to take up Science in my plus two by my friends and especially by my relatives. But I had no inclination towards pursuing either engineering or medical and so did not find a suitable reason to pursue Science. On the other hand, I was exposed to the world of commerce albeit on a limited scale by my father who is an IRS officer. This exposure made me realise my innate interest towards this subject and I decided to defy expectations and pursue the same. It was not taken kindly by many and some even started to throw barbs at me saying that I was never good in studies anyway. But with my parents’ constant support and encouragement, I took it up and came out on top.
During my college days I decided to pursue CA on my own without taking any tuitions. This decision was again met with disapproval from my friends who thought that I was being overconfident, particularly because I could no longer receive any help from my father as he had been posted in Rourkela then. However I was able to prove to them again by clearing both groups of CA IPCC together in my very first attempt while simultaneously juggling my college exams, some of which were even on the same days.
After that I opted for MBA but this time unfortunately a challenge arose from very close quarters. My father being an IRS officer himself, wanted me to follow in his footsteps and to sit for UPSC. It was really hard for me to find my support system on the opposite side. But I was successfully able to convince him of the efficacy of my resolve and when I got through IIFT, he was the happiest of all.
I am really grateful for these challenges because they truly helped me to develop as a person, improved my self-confidence and brought clarity to my objectives and desires. They helped me believe in what I want and encouraged me to get them no matter what.