Aditya Birla Group is one of the largest Indian multinational conglomerate ,
headquartered in Worli , Mumbai , India. The group was founded by Seth Shiv
Narayan Birla in 1857.
The conglomerate has subsidiaries in the fields of fashion, finance,
construction, telecom, education, etc. The business is so big that its practically
impossible that anyone staying in India would not have come across a single
offer from the conglomerate.
Aditya Birla group has been a part of my life from the last 15 years or maybe
more.
I have been a proud consumer of brands like Pantaloons, people, Planet
Fashion, Van Heusen, Allen Solly, Forever 21, etc.
Stores like Pantaloons, People have always made our lives easy in terms of
shopping by offering numerous varieties of Indian & western clothing, shoes,
bags, accessories, etc of multiple brands all under one roof at affordable prices.
Forever 21 has been an all-time favourite. It offers trendy, unique &
inexpensive clothes. Forever 21 has sizes that fit everyone. Especially when
buying jeans, I have a very hard time finding ones that fit appropriately.
The products have always been of good & appealing quality. The sales staff are
always very helpful, friendly & mannered during & post-purchase services
which make us happy customers. All these characteristics reflect the values of
the group. Numerous stories of expansion, growth strategies, crisis
management and many more showcase the true business acumen behind the
group. As an MBA student, we always dream to be a part of this family & learn
such values.
How I overcame challenges to achieve my ambitions in life so far?
I went to a boarding school at a very young age of 5 years. I found it very hard
to adjust to the school initially. Adhering to the strict timetable, staying away
from my family, adjusting to mess food, making friends was all very difficult.
Most of the girls were from rich families. Coming from a small town &
middle-class family made it difficult to gel with them initially. However, I
performed well in my first term exams & was ranked 3rd in the class. After this
I had the confidence to gel in with a lot of the girls as everyone started asking
for notes, coming over to me to help them in studies. Thereafter, I made a lot
of friends who made it possible to survive & reap the benefits of the school in a
long span of 10 years.
Another challenging time in my life was when I prepared for the CAT & other
B-school entrance exams while working. My office hours always exceeded the
standard 9-hour limit due to increasing responsibilities.
In the first 5-6 weeks, it was very difficult to take out even 1-2 hours for
studies.
However, the dream to make it to one of the top 20 b-schools, kept me going. I
continued to work efficiently in my office & then made up my mind to study at
least 4 hours a weekday & 8 hrs on a weekend to achieve my dream.
Self-motivation, sacrificing enjoyment on the weekends & the hard work
eventually paid off & I was able to make to IIM Raipur