‘If your first instinct is to run away from failures, then perhaps you’re doing it the wrong way!’
-Mr. Kumar Mangalam Birla
The thought of facing your failures, learning from them and changing yourself to become better has been greatest inspiration in my life. Thus leaders like Mr. Kumar Mangalam Birla are role model for youth in today’s world where even small failure can become career ending. Business houses who encourage their employees to learn from their failures, to take risks are destined to become nothing but BIG!
What makes Aditya Birla Group big is its omnipresence. There is not even a single person who has not used Aditya Birla product. Aditya Birla group is present everywhere right from clothing , telecom, finance to natural resourses , renewable energy , fertilizers ,cement etc.
The most unique thing that I admire about Aditya Birla group is that in its every initiative it aspires to create a positive impact on society may it be sustainability, community development, women empowerment and many more. Aditya Birla group through its sustainable livelihoods program has provided training to over 95000 people in automobile repairing, electrical services, IT enabled services, beauty and wellness, BPO, retail sales, garment designing, courier services and logistics. Aditya Birla group has chosen over 300 villages in order to transform them into model villages. Madura’s MMU scheme helps women set up micro manufacturing plants thus providing employment to rural women. Aditya Birla group, through Aditya Birla Centre for Community Initiatives and Rural Development, collaborates with government to carry out many social development initiatives.
In today’s world where corporates mainly focus on creating wealth , business groups who try to balance their vision between wealth creation and social objectives are need of the hour. India desperately needs such business groups so that their growth would not only result in India’s growth but also result in India’s development.
How I reached IIM Trichy!!!
Post graduation, I decided to pursue Civil Services exams as I always wanted to make a difference to the society. My decision to pursue Civil Services as a career posed a challenge in many ways. As a child, I would always focus on Maths and Science but the very nature of Civil Services exam demanded that I learn other subjects such as History, Geography, Polity & Economics. My attempts at Civil Services exams pushed me to work harder for each subsequent attempt. The 1st time I cleared the UPSC prelims exam, I secured marks just enough to clear the cut-off but in my subsequent attempts I was able to clear the prelims by a margin of 10 to 15 marks. Unfortunately, I was not able to clear 2nd hurdle but each time I missed the cut-off by a lesser margin. The most important lesson this journey has taught me is to not dwell on failures. One should learn from them and move ahead in life. I also learnt that there is no single way to fulfill one’s ambition. So with that in mind I decided that I would pursue MBA and use my management knowledge to work with organizations which create positive impact on society.
My journey to an MBA was also not easy. When I decided that I would give management entrance exams to get into one of IIMs, I faced lot of resistance from people around me. I also realized that pursuing a full time MBA program would be difficult for me as my age was on higher side, being a girl I had marriage pressure and worst thing was that I was low on confidence. I always doubted myself and thought that no MBA institute would want to take me. So seeing me depressed, one day my sister came to me and asked me to start teaching as a profession. She said that preparing for civil services has made me gain lot of knowledge and if I share that with other people I might feel better. Without putting lot of thought into it I started teaching for a civil services coaching institute. Within few days, like magic, I gained all my confidence back. Teaching students, sharing knowledge with them, solving their doubts, getting their respect felt like a therapy in itself. This experience has made me realize that how much I was devaluing myself. Teaching brought back my confidence. It made me strong so that I could stand up for my ambitions , tell people it’s ok for a girl to get married a little late and face my own fears. As a result I faced all my MBA interviews with lot of confidence. Even though my interviewers doubted me and said things such as I was little late for an MBA, I never broke down. I answered all the questions with wisdom and confidence and as a result I converted almost all of my MBA interviews.