Mother's Love, Freshwrapp and a story of Self Discovery | Mudit-MDI Gurgaon

One of our favorite times during the school days used to be the lunch break that we got in the middle. All us kids would wait eagerly for this break so that we could sit together in the school garden, chat, have fun and most importantly open our lunchboxes to see what surprises our mothers had packed for us inside and then enjoy the food together, sharing our own lunch with others while tasting what each one of them had brought. 

As soon as the school bell rang indicating the lunch break, we would quickly go through the customary prayer to God for blessing us with food and rush to the garden in front of our classroom. And there I would see the food that my mother had cooked so lovingly for her son, the food for making which she woke up at 5 am daily, wrapped in an aluminum foil, Freshwrapp, one of the many Aditya Birla Group product impacting our lives. Freshwrapp ensured daily that my mom’s food and love was served fresh to me during the school lunch break. The content of the lunchbox changed with my age, my taste and food preferences, but Freshwrapp was always there ensuring that the food is hygienic and fresh. So whether it was my Mom’s special Aloo Parathas or her tasty Vermicelli Upma, they always came wrapped in The Freshwrapp foil, protecting the tender love and hard work my mother had put in for making these food items. 

For my mother, providing the best things for her son was here biggest priority in life. She wanted her son to have the best in every aspect and using those Freshwrapp foil for wrapping my school Lunch for over a decade was one of the prime demonstrations of that aspect. She had realized that to ensure the things she wanted for her son, a fresh and hygienic lunch, she would need the help of the quality and trust that comes with Freshwrapp foil, a simple product which went a long way in protecting her son like her own self.

As with everything in life, the good times of school came to an end. I had grown up and it was time for me to move to the college. As fate would have it, my connect with the “Birla’ brand was set to grow much bigger with me deciding to join Birla Institute of Technology and Science, Pilani for my engineering degree. I was moving away from my home for the first time and like every other mother, my mom was worried about how would the new place treat me, would I eat at proper time, but somehow she convinced her heart that it was in the best interest of me to go to a good place for studies. She continued to do all the things that she used to for me as a kid, albeit in a different way. The Freshwrapp foil which protected my school lunch now kept the puri sabji that she cooked for my long bus journey from my hometown to Pilani, fresh. The 'Mathris' in steel boxes in my hostel rooms was still protected by the Freshwrapp foils. Freshwrapp was a constant which didn’t change when most other things did and continues to be in a way a reminder of my mother's love for me.

All of us have a moment in life which goes a long way in redefining it, for me this moment came towards the end of my second year of undergrad at BITS Pilani. I had not been feeling well for a few weeks and had lost quite a lot of weight, but as any other young boy I shrugged it off thinking it was due the lack of sleep and proper food because of the hard work I had been putting in due to end term exams and projects and my body would soon get back to normal. After finishing the semester, I moved to Guwahati for a summer internship with IOCL.The travel and heat of Guwahati worsened my health and I ended up being rushed to hospital late one night with high fever and muscle pains.

The next three weeks were one the toughest of my life, with me spending most of the time hopping between doctor consultations and undergoing tests and scans. By the end of it,  I was diagnosed with an early stage tumor. Though caught early, the disease meant that I would have to put my life on hold for 6 months for undergoing treatment including taking a break from college. This was devastating news for me and my family, especially considering the point of time it came in my life, a time when I was all set to achieve big things.

The treatment was gruesome with surgeries and week long stay every month in hospital watching chemicals slowly dripping in my body. My only savious during those weeks used to be the homecooked food that my mother used to bring for me wrapped in Freshwrapp foil. It took a big toll on my physical health, but mentally it made me much stronger. The lessons I learnt during those long weeks in hospital stuck to the IV needles were priceless. It made me a much more determined person. It took defeating this disease as a challenge, gave my everything to successfully achieve it. This phase gave me a whole new perspective towards life, a perspective in which I was much more calmer, living life to the fullest and determined to give back to the society. I had got a new lease on life, a new sense of purpose and I wanted to make a difference. 

I went back to college after being declared perfectly fit and this is when I joined Parishodh, a social entrepreneurship club at BITS. The club was still in its early stages at that point with only 3 other members, but I saw in it as a big opportunity to fulfill my goal of doing something for the society and making a mark on the world. Over the next two years, I dedicated myself to this project and achieved numerous things under it. I worked on projects like removing high fluoride content form water in villages around Pilani through indegenous resources like rice husk, building cheap solar water heaters from waste materials, etc. These projects though small in scale, were much more satsisfying for me seeing the smiles they brought on poor villagers. More importantly, I helped build a team of over 15 motivated students who wanted to work for the society and solve grassroots problems. We set up an organizational structure from scratch which was self sustaining. We alos brought in collaborators like NGOs, Professors who helped us in training the students on how to work on grassroot problems, technology, etc during their summer breaks. 

Parishodh helped giving a meaning to my life post the tough time I had with my tryst with a dreadful disease. The proudest moment came, when our Chancellor Shri K M Birla appreciated the work we were doing during one of his visits to the campus. Parishodh has now spread to all three campuses of BITS and I could not have been happier seeing it bloom. The life lessons that I learnt during those 6 months in hospital about giving my best at everything has went a long way in helping me achieve small successes like Parishodh. 

#MDIGurgaon #ABGWooMe #MBA #BITSPilani #AdityaBirlaGroup