PART-A Why Aditya Birla Group is big in your life
Aditya Birla Group existed for 149 years now, and is consistently making a mark in varieties of business areas such as fashion, retail, finance, telecom and manufacturing etc.
Fashion brands such as Allen Solly, Louis Philippe, Pantaloons, Ralph Lauren, Forever 21, Peter England, Van Heusen have been worn by me and my family and friends for a long time. Ever since childhood, I remember going to their outlets and retail stores. In the world of telecom operations, Idea Cellular has been a big market player catering especially to the low income segments of Indian society. I remember using the Idea sim when I first started using the mobile in teenage. During the early 2010s, Idea was giving tough competition to the biggest players namely Vodafone and Airtel. Their merger with Vodafone is making the rounds in the business world, since they are now the largest telecom operator in India. Aditya Birla Finance Limited is the leading financial services company providing loans, solutions to effective wealth management to a diversity of population. In the construction business as well, Ultratech Cement and Hindalco have proven their worth time and again. My grandfather utilized their services in our family home which was constructed way back in the early 1990s.
Aditya Birla Group’s Corporate Social Responsibilty work like services of hospitalization, mid- day meal schemes for underprivileged children are worth an applause. Their work inspires businesses and entrepreneurs to carry out operations ethically.
Spanning across 34 countries, ABG is touching the lives of millions around the world.
Part B- How you overcame challenges to achieve your ambitions in life so far.
Growing up is an experience like nothing else. It’s a roller coaster ride, but nonetheless, it’s the lows that make you laugh later on in life, making you think back and wonder on how you overcame those challenges at such a young age! I’m happy I went through these challenges, because they have contributed to make me the person I am today, with the shortcomings and strengths both.
I was born with a neck deformity called torticollis in medical terms. This condition involves having extra muscles on one side of the neck (in my case it was the right side). The extra muscles pull the face to one side. My neck was bent to almost touching the right shoulder. For the first ten years of my life, neither me nor anyone in my family had any idea of what it was. Everyone thought it was just my bad habit. Peers in school used to tease and make fun of me. Luckily, I was diagnosed and cured after 5
th standard. I have come across some elders who were not diagnosed in time, and those extra muscles grew and made their faces asymmetric. They lived their entire lives that way. Infact, there is one guy in HCM course of our college who still has it, and he doesnt know what it is! When torticollis problem luckily ended, life took another turn. My parents’ already strained relationship was about to end completely(good that it didn’t). My extended family lived in Delhi and we were always in other places due to the transferable job of my father. To top that, I’m an only child. So, having had to handle puberty and adolescent changes by myself amidst shifting to new places every few years and the bitter environment at home, I am proud that I handled myself well and didn’t allow it to affect my studies or sports. By the end of teenage, I had reached a stage of depression, but life gives you great opportunities as well, you just have to figure it out. Music came into my life roundabout the same time. People said its too late to learn guitar after 20, these things are better learned in childhood. Others said its too difficult your fingers will pain or you don’t have anyone in your family doing music, how will you learn. I knew this was the only thing that could get me out of years of household problems, I tried everyday unsuccessfully for 9 months, till I finally found a good teacher. And having learnt for around 2 years from them, I have learned decent guitar (although its just around 15% of what I have aimed as a target),but I have reached a stage where I can self learn ahead and am doing the same in the residential MBA program in Goa now.