BIRLA – AN EMOTION

To talk about ABG is to talk about a lot of things which we see and use in our day-to-day life and such an achievement itself is tremendous and beyond excellence. ABG was started in 1860 from a town called Pilani by Shiv Narayan Birla. The bandwagon which started in 1860s evolved as a business in 1870 when Shiv Narayan Birla came up with a cotton and jute trading business despite the dominance of the British in these sectors. With that being said, achieving success then was an herculean task but Shiv Narayan Birla did it gracefully and in the early 20th century, Ghanshyamdas Birla took over as the head of the Birla group and expanded the business manifolds by stepping into the industrial sector. He was also one of the important men who played a key role in the Independence of India. Apart from financing the struggle against British, he also took turns in negotiations with the British. Post-independence, the influence of Birlas grew and naturally the Birlas started branching out sectors and started making the most of the situation. In 1960s, Ghanshyamdas Birla set up Rayon business and was shooting heights followed by setting up a cement business in 1985. By this time, his industrial interests changed and led to the production of metals, mainly aluminium and then the rest is history. From constructing its own smelter to setting up its own powerplant, to acquiring Hindustan Motors, it was a rollercoaster ride with much more to come. This is when Aditya Birla took over. ABG enjoying the perks of ‘License Raj’, started a Thai Carbon black company in 1978. This carbon black is one of the main elements used in the manufacture of tires and guess what, today the tire in every 2nd car in the world has Birla Carbon. ABG has industrial presence in almost all major countries and has around 120,000 employees as of 2015. The organization offers products in almost all sectors which includes agribusiness, carbon black, cement, chemicals, e commerce, finance, mining, retail, telecommunications, textile, wind power and what not. ABG also has around 56 schools that offers free education to more than 20000 children annually. So, to put it in words, ABG was perseverance and excellence. The numbers might be available on the internet, but what stands out is, when some random person from a random state in India goes on to be lavish for a day, the next person asks him “Who do you think you are? Tata or Birla?” which itself shows that affluence, success and opulence are just words but BIRLA IS CLEARLY AN EMOTION!

Challenges are what gives meaning to one’s life. People who take challenges in life rise, others fall or merely survive. The goal is to always have a challenge and then successfully complete it. That is what pumps you up with confidence and propels you forward in your life. Everyone’s life is filled with challenges and my story is no different. We have many educational boards in India like CBSE, ICSE, IGCSE and of course the state boards. Many switch their boards to adapt to the one that suits them. I did my primary education through the Maharasthra State board up till 8th grade. This is when my parents, out of blue, wanted me to switch Boards, convincing me that it was better. I bet that no one would even think about changing their board in 9TH GRADE! Absolutely no one. But this is my story. I withdrew from my school and got directly into an ICSE school. Can you believe it? From normal uniform to suits, new people, new environment, new syllabus and the list goes on. Textbooks went from being 100 pages to 300 pages. Subjects went from being 5 to 9. Class hours went from being 5 to 8. That’s when I wanted to do it for my parents who knew these things are going to come, but showed immense trust that their son would definitely overcome them. And that’s what I did. Not only in the academics, the positive pressure drove me to excel in sports where I won medals in athletics and went on to be a part of the Basketball and the Cricket team, represented my school in debate competitions, cultural events, dance competitions and that’s not all. The icing on the cake was when I came 3rd rank in 9th grade. That was the moment I felt that I have accomplished something great. Making our parents proud is the best thing we can ever do in our life. So, rather than considering it a challenge, when we take it as a positive pressure, the results are certainly going to be much sweeter.

Aghilan Anandhakrishnan

BIRLA - AN EMOTION! by Aghilan Anandhakrishnan, 1st year MBA, IIM SIRMAUR