The roots of the ABG can be tracked to way back in the 19th century when in 1870 Shiv Seth Narayan Birla launched a cotton and jute trading business in the town of Pilani, Haryana. Despite the attempt of British India to establish monopolies of British trading companies in India, he succeeded in building family's first successful business. His Grandson Ghansyamdas Birla forays into manufacturing sector by establishing a jute mill thereby establishing the family's first industrial holding in 1919. The family supported Mahatma Gandhi and other freedom fighters in their quest of Independence of India. Just after the Independence, the family set up Grasim Industries importing rayon from other countries and thereafter setting up a plant in India to manufacture the same here. This set the stone rolling in terms of manufacturing ventures by India's most prestigious multinational conglomerate.

Just like Amitabh Bachchan, the group has touched the lives of one and all in the entire country and beyond. From helping you build your house through Ultratech cement, to securing it through Aditya Birla capital, from the clothes you wear to the cans of cola that keeps you cool in the summer heat through Novartis, ABG is with you and for you the entire time. Wherever you go, you will always find a footprint of the stalwart of the manufacturing and retail sector. Whether you travel through the Indian Railways like the other 2.15 crore Indians in the trains that are kept track by the ABG group through the copper they provide or you travel by road on the wheels that make use of the Black carbon provided by the group, you just cannot go anywhere or do anything without the Amitabh Bachchan of the business world.

I'm from Ghaziabad, U.P and I'll tell you my life story in brief. Having done my CA-Inter and Graduation from Delhi while living at home in Ghaziabad has given me a lot of time to think while traveling and has made me who I am today. With 15 hours of classes each day during my CA and 4-hour traveling time, the travel almost took away the wind from my sails of preparation. With no time for self-study and lagging behind in the course and losing my health due to the rigors of the day, I had lost all hope. I then decided to turn this challenge and threat into an opportunity. I began by trying to concentrate while traveling. Gradually, I could concentrate and started reading while traveling. The traveling time also gave me an opportunity to introspect and sit back to analyze my life and decisions, which gave me a new perspective in my life. I began understanding things in a better way and all of this made my life much more meaningful and I began to cherish the travel time. That time is still one of the best memory of my life.

Whenever life has given me lemons I've made lemonade. Since my graduation days, I have had a dream of studying in one of the premier B-schools of the country FMS, Delhi. Having missed the train last year by half-a-mark last year I was determined to start all over again and make the cut this time around. And here I am, Anubhav Verma, MBA Full Time student, FMS Delhi signing off!

Anubhav Verma

ABG: The Amitabh Bachchan of the Business World - FMS, Delhi