Aditya Birla Group is an Indian multinational conglomerate, headquartered in Worli, Mumbai, India. The group was founded by Seth Shiv Narayan Birla in 1857. The group has interests in viscose staple fibre, metals, cement (largest in India), viscose filament yarn, branded apparel, carbonblack, chemicals, fertilisers, insulators, financial services, telecom, BPO and IT services.
Is that Ultra-Tech cement on which your house stands? When was the last time you had shopped at Pantaloons? Is that formal shirt a Louis Phillipe or an Allen Solly? Isn't Vodafone the best and the most affordable cellular service now-a-days? Did you invest in ABFSG?
As you might have guessed by now, all the aforementioned brands (and many more) are indirectly or directly associated with Aditya Birla Group. It is just impossible that you haven't used any product associated with this conglomerate. It has touched millions by now and it continues to do so.
Let's get into some facts to explain the magnitude/extent at which this group affects our life. Every 2 seconds, a garment of brand associated with ABG is sold. Every 3rd aluminium can is made from Novelis Aluminium. The tyre in every 2nd car in the world has Birla Carbon. Their subsidiary Vodafone Idea is world's second largest telecom operator. They are the country's third largest NBFC (Non-Banking Financial Company).
The roots of the Aditya Birla Group go back to almost a century before India’s independence from colonial rule. Indeed, its role in India’s economic history is tied inextricably with the nation’s quest for political freedom. The foundation of the Birla business empire, which was eventually divided among the members of the subsequent generations, was laid by Shiv Narayan Birla, who started cotton trading in Pilani, Rajasthan, in 1857.
Today the Aditya Birla Group is a $40 billion (Rs.2.45 trillion) corporation and many of the group's firms are in the league of Fortune 500 companies. It has over 120,000 employees from 42 nations, and operates in 36 countries. Notably, 50% of the Aditya Birla Group’s revenue comes from its overseas operations.
In a nutshell, Aditya Birla Group has laid an important cornerstone in our lives. It has played an important part in the development of the country. Not only it has played its part in the explosion of our economy to new heights, but also an important part in development and growth of the individuals of this nation. But was it always this easy for them? And drawing a metaphor from their legacy, what do you think would be their approach to life?
Life can be seen as a game of snakes and ladders, whenever you reach to heights, something is always standing close to bring you down. Not everyone reaches the end. But is reaching the end your true inner call?
There are innumerable names of personas who achieved great heights and made the impossible possible. They got bitten by snakes, were far behind the fellow player but yet managed to come back up, stronger and more fierce.
This urge to not back down, to keep taking the chances on the dice, and to reach the end, immaterial of the fact that you reach before others or after. Because who said that the race ends?
My life is also this amazing game of snakes and ladders. I fall and I get up. I control my pessimism and try not to take others achievements as my fall, not to take others falls as my achievements. It is not easy when you see others doing better than you, while you are still struggling to achieve what it is that you want. Where courage lies is when you help others pick up space with you, when you are not the first or the last to reach but when you have companions to celebrate it with.
It is astonishing that one is required to see life as a summation or summary of one’s achievements and failures. None can measure the ultimate success and happiness that you have achieved (if it can be measured). What is the measure of your success is in life is the number of times you achieved success by helping others achieve it first, the number of times you finished the race with someone.