Today in the world where any company works with a vision, mission, and goal, Aditya Birla Group has been doing that since 1857. With values of Integrity, Commitment, Passion, Seamlessness and Speed, it has never compromised on its forever mission to deliver superior values to their customers, shareholders, employees, and society at large. I must highlight the 'Society' factor here, because though there are many who factors in the society while making business decisions but I believe Aditya Birla Group has contributed largely to that and my life.
Early 90's and like any other typical household, beauty was just another adjective analogous to women. Beauty pageants were meant for women and the association of men with it was considered absurd. Then came a time when society went through a change in its definition of beauty standards. Pageants were no more trivial. I still associate Mr. India beauty pageant with Grasim. It is a perfect complement. Grasim Industries which was already a well-known name in the household by then sponsored a pageant that too for men. Its association did not only boost the pageant then but also helped change a certain stereotypic mindset I was growing up with.
Years later, studying in a B-school with my Allen Solly formals on for the major part of my time here, I realized how the first Indian brand introducing work fashion for women still manages to break the stereotype.
ABG has taught me how to accept changes and possibilities with an open mind and continues to do so.
Challenges keep shooting at you when you try to achieve something. A sentence which everyone must have heard a few hundred times. To be honest, I had very supportive parents, a smooth sail to my high school. I knew what had to be done, how much to study, how to secure a certain job. Everything seemed seamless. Blueprint ready by my predecessors. So, there was I where I wanted to be. I had not known challenges about life except grades and Math problems.
It came as a pretty big shock to me that to pursue my career in Engineering I would have to leave the comfort of my home and my city. Having been born and brought up in a joint family and amongst too many grown-ups to take decisions for me, it never occurred to me that I would have to hold up the reins of my life in my own hand. Suddenly leaving everything to achieve something seemed a big price to pay. Ambitions were suddenly unclear.
But just like any other adventure which unfolds into a great memory one day, I packed my bag and landed in a completely new city, with new people all around, hoping to make the best out of it.
I was always someone who kept to myself, concentrating more on academics than making friends. Over the years, growing up and then staying in the same place helped me make some handful of close friends who were well aware of my shortcomings and chose to ignore them. In the new place with that same mindset, I was lost. I realized being introvert was costing me on making new friends. I tried, but my awkwardness only drove people away. On the contrary, I found myself some bullies instead. I believe till date, those were some of the most challenging days of my life. Being laughed at, ridiculed or made fun of just because I chose to be different was too much for a teenager, without her support system, so much so that I decided on withdrawing my name from the university. I was constantly questioned about my decisions by my professors, parents, and friends back home, but I lacked the courage to speak up and I bowed down silently to my bullies.
Like all good things come in a disguise, one day I met with a person who owned a start-up and was putting up an advertisement for students who could work as a technical intern with him on a part-time basis, in the nearby incubator cell. Finding it interesting, I started conversing with the person for a few minutes and I was instantly sold, and to keep away from my bullies back in college, I started spending more time in the incubator cell working, than in a hostel. Needless to say, the project was a huge success. And to be awarded because of that in front of all my classmates gave me a sense of confidence that I always lacked. Even the people who mocked me, came up to me to congratulate. I realized something that day about myself, that I needed to trust myself and my dreams more, and that everything else is just noise. That one spur of possibility helped me overcome my insecurities and baseless fears. I have never looked back since then.
#ABGLP #WooMe #AdityaBirlaGroup #XIMB