Why Aditya Birla is big in my life
Being one of the largest conglomerates in India, with a presence in almost every sector imaginable, employing over 120000 people, Aditya Birla is a part of every Indian’s life in one way or the other. It is no different in my life - the tires in my car probably contain carbon supplied by Birla Carbon as well as the shiny coating of my car. The cement with which my house was built was possibly bought from UltraTech, with the roofing and aluminium Eternia windows made by Hindalco Industries. Inside my home my food is being prepared in utensils using durable Hindalco Aluminium, and being wrapped in FreshWrapp. In my phone are the ABPB Wallet and BHIM ABPB apps through which I pay my bills and seamlessly send money to friends in an instant. The very clothes I wore on my first day at IIM were bought from Allen Solly, a brand under Aditya Birla Fashion & Retail Limited. Aditya Birla is probably a part of my life in so many other ways I may not even be aware of, considering their staggering portfolio of products and services.
Aditya Birla also holds a place in my heart for being a pioneer in environmentally sustainable business practices. I resonate with their values and ethical conduct in the business world. Constantly striving to be more environmentally conscious myself, it is heartening to know they are leading the way by formulating environmental policies that endeavour to efficiently use resources and energy, and to minimize their footprint. Novelis, a subsidiary of Hindalco Industries, is the biggest buyer and recycler of used beverage cans and recycles over 70 billion cans every year. Liva, a 100% natural and eco-friendly fabric brand, is manufactured by Grasim Industries, yet another subsidiary of the Aditya Birla Group. Thus, ABG is big in my life by not only being an integral part of even the smallest product I use but by also serving as an inspiration in pioneering environmentally sustainable practices.
Challenges I overcame to achieve my ambitions
Although my professional career spanned a mere two years, it has had a fair share of challenges. It was off to a rocky start exactly two years ago, when a reputed company I had been recruited for via campus and had joined just three weeks earlier, faced a dire financial situation with massive layoffs. I had hardly been oriented into the team, when I received the news that the department I belonged to was to be shut down and that the 100 of us who were a part of this division were fired. Having embarked on my career with certain goals and dreams, this was a crushing disappointment and I faced an uncertain future. But even the biggest problems have a solution and to me, this was only an experience that taught me to deal with tough situations and uncertainty, and to put in due diligence into researching any venture I was to embark on in the future.
I was soon able to obtain an offer from a multinational engineering company, but my journey here was not a smooth-sailing one either. Within a few weeks, I was made the sole in-charge of a major feature of the product our team was building. This meant that with close to no guidance, I was responsible for all major issues and tasks regarding my feature and was a single point of contact for the same. It was a challenge which required me to hold my own against colleagues from across Germany and Hungary, and be able to complete my tasks with minimal support and mentoring. This only taught me to extensively research and be well prepared on hitherto unknown topics before every meeting, every task, and the experience boosted my confidence immensely.
When I decided to pursue management studies and obtained admission at one of the prestigious IIMs, it was again an uphill task to convince my orthodox family to allow me to pursue education instead of falling to societal norms. But nothing worthwhile is ever achieved without breaking a sweat and here I am, pursuing my dreams at one of the top institutes in India.