One would almost always assume that we as Indians grew up surrounded by fellow Indians, whether it be our first teacher, first friends or first neighbors, but that wasn’t the case for me. The first school I ever joined was an International school in Japan, with a faculty that included no Indians, and I was surrounded by classmates of over a dozen different nationalities. The reason I have mentioned this is to put things in perspective, because this is how most of my life before college has been like. Life has been quite the roller coaster ride, as I have moved around a lot, starting my education in Japan, returning to India and then going back and forth until I arrived in Chandigarh from Bangkok in 2006. The real challenge began here.
Shifting from an education system that focused more on extra-curriculars and wasn’t extremely competitive, to an aggressive Indian education system, meant that it was time to change gears and adapt. I got admission in a school around January, just a few months before the final exams would take place. At the time, I had no control over the Hindi language. It was a real struggle to learn Hindi starting with the alphabets, while also managing other subjects such as Science and Mathematics, but through perseverance and hard work, I was able to clear all exams with scores that that made my parents proud. For me, it more of an internal victory, overcoming challenges and beating the odds, considering factors such as syllabus quantity, higher level of difficulty of concepts, and the competitive environment that one can easily be intimated by. As time passed, I overcame the next big challenge, clearing both the 10
th and 12
th board exams. Then I secured a VITEEE (VIT Entrance Examination) merit rank where I got the branch of my choice for Engineering (Computer Science).
There have been several other key moments in my life where I’ve had to overcome adversity to achieve my ambitions. Few of these include: on a training front: completing a rigorous summer project at the prestigious Bhabha Atomic Research Center, on a corporate front: leading some high-stake global deals at my workplace and converting them into big wins, and on a personal front: making it through the deadly Chennai floods of 2015. To overcome a challenge and succeed, one must be focused, dedicated and shouldn’t let failure get the best of them. At the same time, it is essential to have a clear vision and strong values. B.C. Forbes, founder of Forbes magazine rightly said, “History has demonstrated that the most notable winners usually encountered heart-breaking obstacles before they triumphed. They won because they refused to become discouraged by their defeats.”
Why the Aditya Birla Group is big in my life.
Give it a little thought, and you will realize that there is no real shortage of successful family-owned companies in India. The truth is, that only a few of those have actually redefined organizational success and created history in the process. I’m talking about the Aditya Birla Group, one of India’s largest conglomerates formed back in the 1960s, during which a 24-year old by the name of Aditya Birla was handled the mantle of heading a group that at the time consisted of Hindalco, Grasim and Indian Rayon. Over time, Aditya Birla proved his mettle by taking charge and executing, with the group reporting steady growth, focusing on diversification and making strategic acquisitions.
As of today, the conglomerate operates in 35 countries and has a reported revenue of $44.3bn (2018). This revenue figure makes the group the 3
rd largest Indian private sector conglomerate in India. Some of the big-name subsidiaries of the Aditya Birla Group include UltraTech Cement, Grasim Industries, Aditya Birla Capital, Vodafone Idea, Hindalco Industries and Pantaloons Fashion & Retail. Every brand owned by the Aditya Birla Group is special in more ways than you’d imagine; whether you talk about Vodafone Idea being the largest telecom provider in the country, UltraTech Cement being the leader in the cement industry or Hindalco being the largest aluminium manufacturing company in the country. With these facts in mind, it’s safe to say that the Aditya Birla Group has in some way, impacted the life of millions of people, not just in India, but also globally.
The presence of the group in my life has been massive and it all boils down to the financial services platform of the Aditya Birla Group: Aditya Birla Capital. A couple of years back, I made a major life decision, to venture into the field of investments, and begin my investment journey. Considering the fact that I was about to put my hard-earned savings into something that was really new to me, I was justifiably nervous. Although I did my due diligence at the time by using research and taking advice from people with knowledge in this domain, I was also about to put my faith in a person that I barely knew (fund manager), who’s job was to help grow my money so that I in turn could meet my long term financial goals. Needless to say, that trust has so far been re-payed as the fund I invested in is giving good returns and I plan to stay invested in the same for many more years to come. To conclude, I'd like to say that while The Aditya Birla Group has contributed to my life in a number of ways, the Financial impact mentioned above has created the maximum number of positive experiences for me.
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