From the far-reaching non-ferrous metals' business, Hindalco, signifying its iron will, to strengthening the walls of rural India through UltraTech Cement; From being the largest manufacturer of Carbon Black worldwide to dressing up 3 people every second and providing the average citizen with the global outlook to match his dreams; From connecting an armed forces officer posted at the border to his worried mother in rural India through Vodafone India, to being the umbrella brand for all financial services and ensuring the lives of the general public through Aditya Birla Capital; From being the entrepreneurial dream of the visionary Shri Seth Shiv Narayan Birla to touching lives across 35 countries worldwide. The true measure of an organization isn't the total revenue it generates or the subsidiaries it declares on its balance sheets. It is the impact it has on people's lives, the faith and trust it generates from its customers, the hopes and the dreams it enables its consumers to aspire to, the ability to touch lives on every human aspect without seeking instant gratification, from being a necessity and yet being in the shadows to the light of empowering achievements of an entire nation.

And that's what the Aditya Birla Group truly represents. As I sit here in front of my laptop screen in the hallowed seclusions of my dorm room at IIM Raipur, I look around to find myself enclosed in the vision of the Aditya Birla Group endorsing their vast array of products in front of my dorm room mirror and being shrouded from the enormity of the organization still trying to come to terms with the fact as to how a simple idea fueled with the zeal to succeed and the determination to persist can lighten up millions of lives across the world and truly build relationships and associations with the consumer hearts that transcend the scriptures of marketing and operational frameworks. A true case study for an MBA student.

How I overcame challenges to achieve my ambitions in life?

Coming from a defense family background, I had to be always averse to the constant change in environment, the longing of constant friendship, craving for the sight of his parents together and yet putting up a strong front on the outside and toughening up on the inside. Before I start off on my journey of life let's start off by introducing myself. I am an engineer by accident, a footballer by passion, a writer by serendipity, pursuing an MBA by choice.

From being the golden schoolboy who aspired to do all the things he dreamed of to being the school head boy commanding 3000 schoolchildren; From being an overweight unsociable schoolkid to being a state level football player; From being a shy introvert hesitating to express his feelings to fighting my fear of stage fright and being the best speaker at several debate and extempore competitions; From failing in math in class 8th to being addicted to number crunching and falling in love with the theorems of tomorrow; From following the herd mentality and rushing into engineering from IITs to discovering my true calling in the domain of marketing; From pursuing the ventures of instant gratification to finally realizing the virtues of hard work and patience; From being the best performer at the initial few months of my job to the frustrations of not being able to sustain revenue targets; From the thought of having my life figured out to the reality of quitting my job and heading into the gloomy scenarios of seeking employment; From the failure of being unable to crack CAT and facing 16 job interview rejections and 3 SSB rejections to keeping my calm and maintaining the sense of belief in myself; From being the highly pampered kid being fed with the golden spoon to deepening bonds with my parents and understanding the sacrifices made for me; From having nothing to lose to wanting to win everything in sight; From being shrouded in the cloud of darkness and cluelessness to being endowed with the light of IIM Raipur and persevering through the maze of life. The above is the summation of my life experiences. And looking back nothing makes me happier because it led me on my journey to find myself. After all, one can only connect the dots on looking backward.

#IIMRaipur #ABGLPWooMe #Inspiration #Keepmovingforwad

KAUSHIK KUMAR SAHOO

Why Aditya Birla Group is big in my life?, IIM Raipur