When we hear Aditya Birla Group, the very first thing that comes to our mind is an empire that spans across various domains and touches lives in a way that we ourselves do not even realise. ABG has laid down the foundations for the Indian Industrial Revolution and has contributed to the Indian Economy for more than a century and aims to serve the nation for centuries to come.
The presence of the group in fashion and retail is the most enticing thing I found, because even though there are a lot of people who use their products, they are under the impression that they are using a foreign brand because of the comfort and quality they expect from an Indian Brand is very different from one they receive from the products offered by the group. Consumers don’t know how to differentiate between a foreign brand and this particular Indian brand and end up assuming that the product is from a foreign company because of the quality of the product. The Fashion & retail chain which has big names in its purse such as, Pantaloons, Van Heusen, Allen Solly, Peter England, Forever 21, American Eagle etc. lives up to the expectations and delivers more than asked for.
My story is also based on the identity mismatch and disbelief. I have always been an outsider where ever I lived. Being a Punjabi who was born and brought up in the Southern parts of India, I was always known as a North Indian and when seven years back me and my family moved to Punjab I was known as an outsider there as well, the one who lived in the south, a “South Indian”. Even though the culture of Punjab was embedded in my upbringing I was still known as a South Indian and then there was this city where I was born and grew up which did not accept me as one of their own. These are the things that gave me an identity crisis which in turn had an effect on my career choices as well. I was pushed towards accounting and finance by my peers even though I was not passionate about it. It took me a very long time to realise this which caused me a huge struggle when I switched my domain and started pursuing something, I was passionate about. I switched my domain to Human Resources because my previous choices were driven by my desire to fit in. I am trying to break the shackles of stereotypes, regional boundaries etc by trying to pursuing something I love which will make me happy. I stopped caring about what people think and what boundary I should fall behind. I think that the only limitation we need to follow is the one we have in our mind, and if you choose to exceed your own limitation which means you have the capability to grow and expand yourselves and offer to the world something which might both amaze and surprise them.