I promise - Ayush Yuvraj, SIBM Pune

Once upon a time there was a child who lived in the national capital of Delhi. He was a simple boy from an ordinary family, who did not have much resources but a family that loved him more than anything and everything. The grandfather of the child had a very special affection to the child and the child grew more and more attached to his grandfather. The child was an obedient one, loved his family dearly but never thought of how the child would survive even a day away from his family and especially his grandfather. The child grew up with time just like everything else and soon came the time when he had to leave his home and go for his higher studies (engineering) to a distant part of the country. The boy was aware that he has to leave his home sooner or later for his studies but it never occurred to him that there was one more thing that he was going to leave behind, his family. It only occurred to him once he was in his hostel room alone and reality struck him. 

It was an ordinary rainy day in the month of August and the streets of the college were drenched completely. The frogs were croaking and there was no electricity. It was a completely new experience for the boy. First time away from his home he dearly missed his family and his grandfather. The boy thought it was completely normal but soon, tears rolled down his cheeks and before he could realise it he was sobbing uncontrollably. The most prominent thing he could reminisce about was the food his mother used to pack for him whenever he left home.  Oh, the delicious warm food his mother used to wrap in the aluminium foil which made him feel as if he was still at home. He never realised this but the taste of the motherly touch was preserved by a company working somewhere day in and day out to add value to lives of people.

It was the summer vacation of 2013 and the boy was very ecstatic to go home after one complete year. To the pleasant surprise the boy, when he reached home he found out that he now had a new room double the size of his original room. This was a gift from his grandfather. His happiness knew no limits and he rushed and hugged his grandfather. He never even thought that there was again, another company working in silence towards creating such happy moments in the lives of people (Ultratech cement). This was not all. It was also the first time he received in his entire life a nice well stitched suit as he was embarking on his journey to the ‘real world’. He was receiving the knowledge about how the personality and clothes bring about a change in the thinking process of men and women. How a nice piece of clothing can be the one to bring about a change in, what the grandfather called the biggest possession of a man, character. This was yet another time a textile company ( Grasim) was impacting his live in such innate ways.

Unfortunately, his grandfather fell really sick just two months hence and left the boy and the mighty earth while the boy held his hand and pleaded and begged to the doctors to save his grandfather. This was life altering moment for him. The boy cried for months in pain but couldn’t do anything apart from working hard to make his grandfather proud. All he could think about was the last advice his grandfather gave him. BUILD CHARACTER

Time passed by and soon came the days of the placements. It was one of the most important days of his life. This was the point where a boy was setting up to shift from boyhood to manhood. It was the D-Day. The company he had aimed for aimed for had announced a pool campus for three of the top colleges of India including his college. The boy worked day in and day out and devoted all his time to this prime goal. And for this placement the candidate turnout was much higher that what he had anticipated. 700 plus candidates for less than 15 seats. It was a five round selection process. He wore the same suit his grandfather gave him. The suit still had the lingering scent of his grandfather, a tradition to standby and a character to build. Soon, the process began and after toiling hard for two complete days sans food or shower he came out victorious on the other side. He was very happy within because deep down he knew that his grandfather will be proud of him and looking down at him and giving blessings. 

Through this whole journey he realised the importance of all the small things in life people often ignore or do not have gratitude for. He realised the importance of all the underlying factors, the efforts of the entire human kind and the work of special few that often goes unnoticed. And in his case it was the efforts of a company called Aditya Birla group.