What started as a Jute manufacturing company in 1919, is now one of India’s biggest multinational conglomerates. Aditya Birla Group, a name every Indian resonates with ‘trust’ and ‘reliability’. A company that is synonymous with ‘Quality’ in the minds of all Indians. Like most others, my life has also been heavily influenced by this name and its brands.

On the day of the interview that landed me my first job, I was wearing Van Heusen and had taken the Bandra-Worli Sea Link to the interview. Both of these brands are owned by ABG, even the cement that was used to build Mumbai’s famous Sea Link, Ultratech, is an ABG brand. Aditya Birla Group is a big part of how I remember that day.

From Freshwrapp, that everyone trusts with their lunch to Pantaloons (now a part of Aditya Birla Fashion and Retail Ltd), which is the shopping destination for most of the India’s urban population, Idea Cellular (now India’s largest telecom service provider as Vodafone Idea Limited) to Ultratech (India’s largest manufacturer of grey and white cement and a brand Indians trust), Birla Carbon (Carbon nanoparticles used to make tyres) to Grasim Industries (the 4^th largest producer of insulators in the world), Birla Copper(which supplies copper to Indian railways) to Hindalco Aluminium (used to make the cover glass of smartphones), Aditya Birla Group and its brands are BIG in all of our lives. Apart from all of this, ABG reaches out to 7.5 million people, works in 5000 villages, operates 56 schools for 46,500 children, runs 5000 medical camps and 20 hospitals, has been instrumental in immunising 70 million children against polio and providing mid-day meals every day to 63,000 children in 268 schools among other things as a part of their Corporate Social Responsibility. Aditya Birla Group has truly made a BIG impact on the lives of millions of Indians.

One of the biggest challenges I faced in life was nothing external. It was my own anxiety. In a country where, mental health is not given as much importance as physical health, I believe it is extremely important to talk about anxiety.

At 16, I was an overthinker and an extremely anxious person. My overthinking was making me extremely self-critical and I found myself on the verge of cynicism. It was a very difficult phase, personally and had also started affecting my academics. I overcame it by something people rarely want to talk about – therapy. My parents were extremely supportive and I shudder to think what I would have had to face, had they shunned me and made light of my anxiety. But that is a reality many of us live in. Many students in India face anxiety and depression, among other disorders, on their own, without any parental support. Much of the problem is the taboo surrounding the issue. As a developing country, India has been focused eradicating malnutrition and poverty, among other pressing issues and while these are obviously important, we should also be aware of mental health issues and empathic towards people who suffer from them. While, the narrative towards mental health is changing, over time, with imminent personalities coming out and talking about their struggles with mental health, we still have a long way to go. I want to take this opportunity to tell anyone who’s reading this and struggling with mental health issues – Be strong, work towards a better you every day and don’t lose hope!

Shreya Ganesh Annareddy

Work towards a better you everyday! -Shreya Annareddy, XIMB