When I started writing this article in my B-school Library, wearing a Van Heusen shirt and a pair of Allen Solly trousers, with my shoes and socks bought from Louis Phillipe, I had an epiphany that I was clad in products belonging to the Aditya Birla Group all over (the boxers that I was wearing were from American Eagle); and I was clueless about it till then!
Sometime later, I went to our campus administrator to have a chat. While conversing with him, the construction of our campus came up as a topic. Lo, the cement used in the construction of all our campus buildings was Ultratech Cement, another fruit from the Aditya Birla Group basket. The roofing of many of our buildings was from Hindalco Everlast, another Aditya Birla Group brand.
My mother had packed some theplas for me to have at the hostel in aluminium foil, and I don’t need to say what brand it was; Freshwrapp- The Mommy Guarantee.
Once I had to take my girlfriend out shopping, to make up for a fight we had. She nearly emptied the Forever 21 store in Phoenix Marketcity, Mumbai. She did buy me some clothes from Pantaloons since some of the fight was her fault too. You know where I am getting at! Forever 21 and Pantaloons are also Aditya Birla Group brands.
These stories may sound incredulous, but it does not mean that they aren’t true! Well, at least some of them are!
The thing about the Aditya Birla Group is that it is a part of an average Indian person’s life, somewhere, in some way, even if that person does not realise it! A person may or may not realise if he is using an Aditya Birla Group product, but he will surely be knowing what the Aditya Birla group is! Idea, Pantaloons, Peter England, Allen Solly etc., it is difficult to find people who are not aware of these brands. This is the reach that the Aditya Birla Group has, in India as well as internationally. From chemicals to fashion, to metals, as well as financial services and cement, ABG has done it all. Making a mark in 14 different industry sectors, and growing into a multibillion-dollar business empire is no small feat!
The name “Birla” has always been associated with wealth and prosperity in India, even before Independence, with rich people being called the “Tatas and Birlas” of India. That is the respect that the name commands. The Group’s website says that the name Aditya Birla exemplifies integrity, quality, performance, perfection and above all character. Well, there are certainly no arguments to that. The Group’s Chairman Mr. Kumar Mangalam Birla is famous all over the world as an able leader of an extremely scruple and reputed business empire.
This reputation of the Group also translates into its non-business activities, with a generous support to philanthropy, healthcare, education, and research. There are hardly any milestones for the Group to cover. In fact, it will have to come up with newer milestones for itself! That is Aditya Birla Group for me!
Writing about myself, I am a normal guy from Mumbai, with a normal family, a normal set of friends, normal ambitions, normal habits, normal hobbies! There is nothing extraordinary in my life. I am neither an incarnation of Albert Einstein when it comes to brains, nor am I the next Roger Federer or Michael Phelps when it comes to brawn!
However, my dreams are extraordinary. My biggest dream is to be happy in whatever I do, wherever I go, and with whoever I am! It is a titanic dream to have in these times.
Oh, and also, I spent 3 years of my life fighting cancer. I was diagnosed with Hodgkin’s Lymphoma when I was 20. It took me 3 years and the best of my willpower to bounce back from it, but it has made me who I am today. I am calmer, patient, a little more mature and tenacious than I ever was, and I ever will be. And here I am, doing an MBA in Finance from one of the top B Schools in the country, SIBM Pune.