On a lazy Sunday evening when all I wanted was to stay home, my parents forced me to go grocery shopping and they take me to this behemoth of a store with massive glass walls with ‘
More’ written on it with big letters. I was 14 and that was my first encounter with Aditya Birla Group. I walked into this megastore which sold just about everything under the sun. My immature brain could not comprehend all the aisles filled with candy, free samples of pasta, the smell of freshly baked goods and the chilling industrial freezers which stocked every flavor of ice-cream I can ever imagine. I reached home 3 hours later, with a shopping cart full of stuff and looked up this more megastore and realized it was owned by Aditya Birla Group which also owns Idea and Pantaloons, another chapter of my life which I will never forget.
I was a chubby kid and shopping for clothes was always a nightmare, in comes
pantaloons with all the stretchy clothes that fit perfectly. This was just what I needed to make peace with myself. In a way, Pantaloons made me accept myself for the chubby kid I am and I will always remain grateful to Aditya Birla Group for that.
I got my first phone when I was 15, it held a little yellow
idea sim card with the death cheap bulk message tariffs. My first set of formals came from
Arrow when I was 17 and my first suit from
Louis Philippe when I was 18. I gave my first interview in my life while wearing Van Heusen.
In a way, Aditya Birla was part of me growing up. With businesses that run with quality, integrity, and perfection, Aditya Birla Group has always been big in my life.
How I overcame challenges in my life
My most significant challenge in life - it would have to be learning to communicate in English. Going back a few years, I remember switching from a Telugu medium school in a rural area to an affluent school in Hyderabad in 8
th grade. It was a very big challenge both academically and culturally. I was subjected to constant bullying by my peers as I was the only one who could not communicate in English. It didn’t take more than a miserable week to become the laughing stock of my class. Dejected, dwarfed by humiliation, I decided that no matter what it takes, I am never going to let this feeling creep back into my life. I spent a few hours every day starting from the basics- reading the newspaper, self-help books, English movies and listening to as many audio interactions I could find.
This one experience taught me that there are going to be bullies in every walk of life and I should not cave, I should fight through it, whatever the circumstance may be.
The very same attitude got me through my school, my graduation and got me my first real job after graduation. Making my way through the inevitable organizational politics of a typical MNC, I got a well-deserved promotion within a year and it came with a set of new challenges with my peers now angry at me because I got promoted and they didn’t which made work-life incredibly difficult. Navigating through this with a positive outlook, I received my first award and recognition for my hard work and dedication. The experience throughout always only taught me one thing, there is always a silver lining at the end.
This is how I overcame all the major and minor challenges in my life, with a positive attitude