One of India’s largest conglomerates, Aditya Birla Group has humble beginnings that trace back to the year 1857 in the small village of Pilani in Rajasthan when Seth Shiv Narayan Birla ventured into cotton trading. The scions of Seth Shiv Narayan Birla diversified from trading to manufacturing. Till such time, the clan of Marwaris known only as ‘Baniya’, moved out of Rajasthan, became industrialists and aided in nation-building. Each descendant set up is own group and facilities across the country. Finally, consolidation is taking place with the ABG at the helm and the Birla’s are now a name to reckon with in the industrial world by acquiring strategic assets to aid both forward and backward integration. With over 120,000 employees and presence spanning across continents specifically 34 countries, ABG has turned into a global powerhouse. Today, the group has become a massive part of our lives and in all likelihood, there is no single India that has not interacted or used a product under the ABG portfolio.
To claim that who I am and where I am is because of Birla would seem superficial but is indeed a fact. My grandfather served the Birlas before the group split up for over 30 years and retired there as well. The organization treated him with the utmost respect at all times and the values have been passed on for generations. Loyalty and dedication were some of the values that run through our family thanks to the Birla’s. My father is a proud alumnus of BITS Pilani, one of the premier engineering institutions in the world. The institution has passed on several of its core values that include integrity, commitment, and passion on to my father which has in return influenced my life massively. Aditya Birla Group truly has been big in my life. The values that I have inculcated truly have been influenced to a large extent by ABG.
With the above influencing my formative years, ABG has had an entirely different influence on my adolescent years. Madura Fashion & Lifestyle, the custodian of iconic fashion brands –Louis Philippe, Van Heusen, Allen Solly, and Peter England has been entangled with my life at various crossroads. Be it casual wear, formals or party wear, the aforementioned brands have been my go-to both in terms of choice and comfort.
Realizing my potential
Somebody once said that “Challenges are what makes life interesting and overcoming them is what makes life meaningful”. It is indeed true that challenges make life interesting. They add spice to life. Nobody likes a boring monotonous job. Employees want to be challenged on a daily basis. Doing something challenging successfully provides a sense of accomplishment that is unmatched.
A massive challenge in my life I had to overcome was when I had lost track of my academics. Despite a very disappointing standard 12
th score, I managed to get into the undergraduate course of my choice. This led me to be even more laidback and I took things extremely lightly. As my first year passed by with the final result showing a paltry score, something snapped in my head. For years and years my teachers, professors, parents, in fact, my entire family has been accusing me of underperforming and suddenly I realized that maybe there was some truth to it.
Immediately, I put a process in place. Timely completion of assignments, being regularly updated with my syllabus, performance in the class were some of the things I really put a lot of effort and work into. This led to a transformative change in not only my score but also in who my faculty and classmates perceive me to be. The challenge was to achieve this without significantly cutting down on my hobbies which mainly included watching and playing football. I managed to do so by setting up a strict time table that ensured I completed my work well before time.
By the time I was in my 8
th semester, my marks showed an increase of almost 65% which was fantastic to see. Perseverance certainly paid off in my case. I continued on the same lines as I embarked upon a journey to join one of India’s top B- Schools. I successfully managed to that as well, albeit with quite a few roadblocks on the way. To me, ambition has no limit but I certainly trust myself to work hard and achieve big things that would make me and my dear ones proud.
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