How many seasons are there in India? The normal, correct answer is 5 or sometimes, 6. However, in Kolkata, West Bengal, from where I belong, this question has a different answer. Basically, we have 3 seasons.
‘Poila Boishak’ or the beginning of Bengali New Year, ‘Durga Puja’ and Winter.
That is how it is counted. Once December is over, everybody kind of forgets about January, February, March and jumpstarts planning for April when there is ‘Poila Boishak’. And a major part of this planning includes buying and gifting new clothes and apparels. And in my household, all this planning and buying apparels revolve round Pantaloons.
This has been the routine for as long as I can remember. And now, only when I am sitting down to write an article on why Aditya Birla Group is big in my life; I am realizing how not only Pantaloons but so many other products of ABG have also been an integral part of my life.
Starting from the network I use for my cell phone, Vodafone Idea Limited, to the copper used in trains I so frequently travel by, I look back and see almost every thread of my life connected by Aditya Birla Group products. And I believe it is true for so many other Indians. From lifestyle , IT ,finance, manufacturing or retail, we are indebted to ABG in one way or the other.
For me, like Pantaloons has been my savior for all fashion choices, or all the times I accidentally spilled coffee on my dress while going to work, Vodafone-Idea has been the witness to every frantic conference call before exams, and now that I am staying away from home every call to my parents informing and assuring them I am doing well.
So, though I started with the example of Pantaloons, the footprints of Aditya Birla Group’s products in my life cannot be measured only materialistically. They have been a big contributor of my journey so far and they will continue being so.
Thus Far and Further Onward
No journey is similar and every journey is punctuated by highs and lows, failures and successes, overcoming challenges, falling down and getting up again. The challenges are never similar too. They are acutely personal and the weight of them is perhaps felt only by those who have been through them.
One of the primary challenges I had to overcome while coming this far is severe low confidence and the firm belief I had that I am not worthy of academic success. It all started when I didn’t score that well in my Secondary Boards exam even after studying hard. I tried studying harder in my Higher Secondary, but simply couldn’t perform in the different exams. My confidence went so low that I refused to join college even after securing a spot in an engineering college. My parents pursued me to join, they kept on encouraging me and luckily I made some very good friends in college. Seeing them working hard and performing well brought out a change in me. I started evaluating myself logically, to check for the areas where I am at fault and where circumstances were such, and improving myself. The process took time, it was not a drastic development and it was in my fourth year that I finally got outcome of my perseverance. I was placed in two software companies Cognizant and Wipro from the campus itself. My confidence grew, I performed well in office, and even prepared for different management exams while balancing job on the other hand. I can say I did fairly well. And now I am here. In Indian Institute of Management, Tiruchirappalli.
There will be chances of redeeming oneself always. We just have to make sure that once it is there, we don't waste a single minute and grab it with both hands.