Life Lessons 101 – A Philosophical Journey| Mary Jeana, SIBM Pune

It’s great to know that I am as old as the first logo of the Aditya Birla Group. The first image I get in my head when I hear ABG is its logo. The Indian multinational conglomerate, founded by Seth Shiv Narayan Birla in 1857, stands as the 3rd largest amongst the Indian private sector conglomerates. These are all facts that we know or can search up on the internet. 

If you want to know how big it is in my life, then the answer is in the first line. It has a logo as old as me. Isn’t that big? On a serious note, there is a lot that we can learn from the new as well as the old logo. It has given me a new way of looking at life. It has made me think about various techniques to link my past, present and future to transform myself into a better person. Here are a few points I have learnt from its corporate identity.

1. Energetic- Here, the sun is a symbol of energy. We should always make sure to keep the passion drive us to achieve our goals.
2. Heritage- We don’t always have to come up with something new. We can stick to the traditional ways that will let people recognize us but at the same time stand out with new features.
3. Range- The colourful rays show that they reach different kinds of sectors/people. We should have our minds open when a door closes so we can enter even through the tiniest space to achieve what we want.
4. Diversity- Every part of the logo has a different colour. This symbolizes how we should be able to collaborate with different kinds of people to perform well in various sectors of the industry.
5. Acceptance- There is modernity in the new logo. This represents how we should be ready to accept changes in life and adapt to what is trending to catch the eyes of the customer.
6. Age- This is where I reveal the age of the logo and myself. The first logo launched 21 years back and the change was made two decades later in 2018. Don’t let age be a barrier to try new things in life.

It’s fascinating to know how much we can learn from one logo design. ABG has given me life lessons from its logo. Apart from this, they have shown that bricks alone can never make a resilient building. We require suitable cement to glue it together. In life, our knowledge alone won’t help us achieve success. However, people who mould knowledge with the right attitude and positive characteristics definitely have a success story waiting for them. ABG Ultratech cement is a product that taught me this lesson. To others, various other products might have had a direct impact on their lives. But, for me, ABG helped me see the values we can learn from products. This is why the Aditya Birla Group is big in my life.

After being inspired by the life lessons taught by the Aditya Birla Group, when I reflect back on my life, there are few qualities that I possess that can be possible life lessons too. So here’s my share of life lessons for the day/night.

When I was in grade 2, I always got help from my brother to do my drawing assignments because I was afraid to try, thinking it will turn out to be bad. He was the artist at home and I always turned to him for help. One day, he stopped helping me and told me to try it on my own. I took a pink chart, drew five vertical rectangles which represented my buildings, an oval below it, which was my so-called swimming pool and a few stick figures inside the pool. Not to forget, the traditional sun and V-shaped birds. This was my first attempt in drawing and I am going to be forever grateful to my brother who pushed me out of my comfort zone. Later, I realized it gives me happiness every time I produce a masterpiece (that’s what I would like to call it). I always resort to drawing and painting whenever life throws a brick at my face. I, later went on to do a 30 days challenge during my undergrad when I drew something every day and posted it. Surprisingly, a few Instagram followers of mine did something similar to my challenge after I had completed mine. It’s a cycle and when I get into the corporate world, I am surely going to lead people who will enjoy the process of creating something new. I choose to do something I love for the rest of my life, and I will inspire people to do the same as well. 

In my final year of undergrad, I had another chance to explore outside my comfort zone. I had the opportunity to lead a group of 130 students as the President of the The Guindy Times, the official media body of my campus. It gave me a chance to interact and work with different kinds of people. It was surely a task to put together all the creative and intellectual ideas into action. However, it taught me how to stay grounded. I chose to be captain cool like MS Dhoni of the team. The journey helped me find the kind of leader I am. It shaped me to be a team player which is one of the reasons we emerged victorious as a team. I’ve inspired my juniors and friends to stay calm and composed. I hope I'll continue to do that in my corporate journey.

Being a young lady who just turned 21, it is hard to find things I have had an impact on. Nevertheless, it is never too late to start now. Perseverance and passion are the 2 P’s one can learn from me that will create an impact on a large scale of people in the future.