Why Aditya Birla Group is big in your life?
With its massive footprint spread across 47 companies operating in 16 sectors, it is virtually impossible for someone not to be touched by Aditya Birla Group in their life. Started way back in 1919 as a manufacturer of Jute, Aditya Birla Group has truly come a long way and has firmly established itself as one of India’s leading business conglomerates with a massive presence right from Retail to Apparel to Telecom to Banking and even Metals. Aditya Birla Group has been a game-changer in the Indian marketplace.
Let’s take a look at one of their most successful retail offering, Aditya Birla Fashion and Retail. It is India’s first Billion-dollar fashion powerhouse with its bouquet of retail offerings and fashion labels. At a time when Indian’s had an inclination for foreign apparel brands due to their superior quality, ABG came out with offerings like Peter England, Van Heusen, Louis Philippe and Allen Solly offering superior quality apparel for the Indian masses at a fraction of their foreign counterparts. Most people confused them to be international brands due to the quality and the names of the brands.
Now, why is ABFRL significant for me? during my school days, it used to be a luxury to wear branded clothes. We used to live with the perception that such clothes are just expensive and won’t last long enough to justify their hefty price tags. So, when it came to buying my first pair of formal clothes, I just went to a local shop to buy some, however, as luck would have it the shop was closed leaving me no choice but to visit a nearby Louis Philippe store. Fifteen-year-old me was smitten with the options they had to offer, and it wasn’t even that expensive. I ended up buying a shirt and a trouser. For some reason on the day of I was supposed to wear them I got a confidence boost because I knew I was wearing the Louis Philippe Upper Crest. That particular pair became my lucky clothes until I outgrew them, but then it was time to get myself a proper business suit and I just wouldn’t go anywhere else, Louis Phillipe it was.
How you overcame challenges to achieve your ambitions in life so far?
I joined Vedanta Ltd in June 2016, as a Graduate Engineer Trainee in one of their power plants in Jharsuguda, Odisha. Coming from a metropolitan city like Delhi it was difficult for me to adjust to the new place considering the fact that this was also my first tryst away from home and family.
Living in a comfortable and protected space for the past 21 years it was indeed a tough experience. Initially, I didn’t like the food, didn’t like the work, didn’t even like the place I was living in. Although difficult to admit but I cried myself to sleep in the first few days since I just wanted to go back home. So, I had a talk with my brother, who I look up to. He explained that such experiences, out of my comfort zone were necessary in life if I wanted to grow and improve, so I must have a steely resolve to succeed no matter the problems I faced. He suggested that I need not look at these problems as hurdles but as an opportunity to learn something new, and that’s what I did.
When I didn’t like the food which was available, I cooked, when I felt lonely, I went out and made new friends, when I didn’t like the work partly because I didn’t understand it, I talked to people to learn it better. Like this, a few months passed by and I gradually adjusted into the place. As a result, within three months of joining, I got independent charge of the Ash Handling Plant operations and got my own 10-member team to manage. I received the best rating in my first appraisal and made some life-long friends along the way. The entire experience just helped me grow, and taught me an important lesson which I'll best express in the words of Randy Pausch - " The brick walls are there for a reason. The brick walls are not there to keep us out. The brick walls are there to give us a chance to show how badly we want something. Because the brick walls are there to stop the people who don’t want it badly enough, they’re there to stop the other people "