Aditya Birla Group, heard the name so many times. But am I connected to this name anyhow?
If yes, then in what way? Trying to find the answer to my question wearing my Blue Two-piece
Business Formal suit that I bought for my Orientation day. Oh my god! I got my first
Connection. I had purchased the suit from Peter England, a clothing brand owned by Aditya
Birla Group. The pair of trousers that I bought on my birthday is from Allen Solly, a fashion
Branch of the Aditya Birla root. Idea Cellular, the telecom branch of the conglomerate,
advertised by Mr Junior Bachchan was the carrier that I used to stay connected to family and
Friends. In 2013 when my House was being constructed, the contractor asked for the Cement which we wanted to use. Few companies had a good position in the market at that point of time so it was not very easy to come up with a unanimous decision. I consulted my cousin who happens to be a Civil Engineer and he advised us UltraTech Cement, the Engineers choice. Setting up of Cow Shelters in different parts of India is a trend these days, of course by the continuous Government support but modern pioneers include the Birlas who donated an amount of 1 lakh in 1880 to set up goshalas in Kolkata. The Aditya Birla Scholarships
providing assistance to more than 40 scholars from reputed Government Colleges (IIT's,
IIM's, FMS) and BITS, Pilani. India’s first Five-Year plan was actually a blueprint of the
Bombay plan or the Tata-Birla plan, framed to promote industrial development in the mid-1940s. To sum up things that 'ABG' has done and aspires to do, I would like to mention the
words of Ghanshyam Das to his grandson Aditya, when he was studying at MIT “eat only
Vegetarian food, never drink Alcohol or Smoke, keep early hours, marry young, switch-off
lights when leaving the room, cultivate regular habits, go for a walk every day, keep in touch
with the family, and above all, don’t be extravagant"
My fall And the Rise to achieve my goals and live my dream.
I grew up thinking in my school days that Engineering is the ultimate goal that I am supposed to target and after its achievement life will be all but a smooth ride. But after graduating in Electrical Engineering I encountered the hard fact of life. Life is not a bed of roses but rather a throne full of thorns. I joined Cognizant as a Programmer Analyst Trainee and got training in c-sharp. But those 4 months of training was a very difficult phase, as IT was not an area where I was very comfortable with. With great difficulty, though I managed to pass the training exams but at the back of my mind, I knew I was not in the right boat and definitely not going in the right direction. I then joined Oracle Financial Services as an Associate Technical Analyst. Though excited to work for a reputed firm I thoroughly lacked interest and thus was unable to derive pleasure from my work. One day I sat and gathered all the information related to various masters degree and future prospects that I could have persuaded. I narrowed it down to an MBA degree after deep introspection and joined a national fame coaching institute to help me fulfil my dream of converting a good B-school. I failed to qualify for any decent b-school in my first attempt. But I did not fear failure and gave a second attempt, in which I got interview calls from few b-schools of my choice. The interview process was like a nightmare as I failed miserably due to lack of interview experiences. I was sad but definitely not down. I thought of giving myself a third and last chance. I started preparing and this time with all that I could have offered leaving no stone unturned. I also took a leave of a month just before the CAT exam and was pretty confident of a very good result. But the d-day was not as I had thought. The exam did not go well and I had to put my thinking caps again in deciding whether to fight or flight. I had a long conversation with my father on that day and one input of his that I will definitely remember throughout my life will be that nothing is permanent and 'This' time will pass. I started preparing for XAT with double enthusiasm and it showed in the result. I got calls for the Group Discussion and interview process from many reputed b-schools and finally converted one of the coveted b-schools of the country-XIMB.