Nothing strikes you harder than the way reality does. Our self-made illusory bubble of perceptions in life collapses down only to form new ones as our circumstances come crashing down on us.
It was just another regular afternoon when I was binge-watching my favorite TV series. The idea was to finish all episodes at one go and then to start studying for the final MBBS professional exam which was just a month away. I received a call from my mother who prefers post-dinner calls over afternoon calls. She struggled to talk and all she could manage to say was that my father has been admitted for a cardiac attack.
MY FATHER AND HOW ADITYA BIRLA GROUP FORMS AN INTEGRAL PART OF HIS MEMORIES
There are multiple things those come to my mind when I think both of my father and the Aditya Birla Group. But if I have to come up with one common word that defines both of them with all genuineness, that will be “DEPENDABLE”.
I, very well remember, how my father used to take me to the construction site of our new house when I was a child. To me, it was fun and to him, it was his dream. And I realize how ABG had impacted his dreams and in the process ours as a family, when I remember the many sacks of ULTRATECH cement at the construction site.
Taking it from there, I felt isolated in our very own home as I had no one of my age group to hang out and play with. My father, always my companion, took the responsibility of being that bowler to the batting-enthusiast in me. It took me years, but I realized at some point of time that even that cricket ball was ABG’s contribution towards the cherished memories of mine.
The memory of the day, when I came out of my school-gate, only to realize that my father was there with a brand new car with my name already imprinted at the back of it, is fresh as if it was yesterday only. Totally esthetic with the surprise as I went on to learn things in future, I came to know that even the wheel of that happiness in form of car was again something ABG had made. Yes, you can’t keep them out of your memories.
The “Planet Fashion” showrooms all over have been a place to shop for the entire of my family. Visiting there for innumerable times with my father is just another integral part of my memories with him to say the least.
How can I not mention the incredible learning given by my father to shape the person who I am today? Being there for the people who, for some reasons, don’t have the privilege most of us enjoy, had been what my father kept on reminding me over the years as I grew. And out of many examples he came up with, “Big Smile Foundation” was something that was put multiple times. The volume of social responsibility the ABG group have been doing through the said campaign has turned out to be an eye-opener.
From gifting me a Van Heusen suit when I cracked the MBBS entrance examination to advising me to port to the Vodafone network to combat the poor network around my college area, my “Mr. Dependable” collaborated with the nation’s “Mr. Dependable” i.e. the Aditya Birla Group to make the major bulk of my lifetime memories.
But there was a time when I resisted my father from availing the service by ABG when he went on to take the Life Insurance Policy. My young mind couldn’t perceive that mis-happenings might happen, that this policy could be a game-changer when my life would take a U-turn.
THE BLACK DAY AND AFTERWARDS
The doctor insisted for an angioplasty as my father’s ECHO report was really bad. He was referred to a tertiary care hospital. But even before we could reach there, my father suffered another cardiac attack; this time, a deadlier one.
Though he survived the journey anyhow, there wasn’t much to do when we arrived finally at the hospital. He underwent angioplasty and was shifted to the ICU. He deteriorated the next day and suffered from a multi-organ failure. My father was no more. He left me with a mother and a little sister to take care of.
I was broken to the core, but the values he built me with stood strong. I was clueless about what to do, but my purpose had grown beyond my self-interest.
I fought back. I fought back with his strength inside me, with his memories paving the way forward. I followed what I believed I was destined to do. I came out my conventional responsibility of treating patients to pursue management. I vowed to contribute to the structural management of the healthcare facilities in our country so that millions of prayers are answered better. My mother stood beside me when I decided to appear for the CAT 2018. When everyone else pointed a finger at me, it was my mother who came up with the golden words, "I trust you." I cracked CAT and now here I am into the prestigious Indian Institute of Management, Ranchi with a dream in my eyes and fire in my belly. And at such moment of action now, Aditya Birla Group and its culture becomes a reference of inspiration as my father’s memories remain my guiding force.