A). Why Aditya Birla Group is big in my life? Its prominence in my life.

“The underlying logic in many of our businesses is simple: if you want leadership position you have to be global in it”

Quote from the article: View From The Top by KUMAR MANGALAM BIRLA.

Whenever I listen to the word BIRLA, I perceive something MARVELOUS and it has always gone beyond my expectations.

ABG is an Indian MNC and has high level of values and ethics. ABG has contributed A lot to India.

ABG has highly professional & Transparent work culture and Sky is the limit for the Target setters & achievers.

ABG follows the World Class Manufacturing culture and

Major products which are being utilized by all of us are Aluminum, Copper, Cement, Fertilizers, Chemicals, Textiles, Apparel’s, Gold, Silver, Telecom, Financial support etc.

This what feels like when you know about a company from the outside. But for me I have always felt like a part of the ABG.

My father has worked in HINDALCO for almost 13 years, So I am personally connected to the BIRLA group. I remember reading the handbook about “Valuing our Values Workshop” provided by the ABG. I loved how grounded and professional the group is.

There were some lines in the handbook that have been etched in my mind for the rest of my life like:

Our group has always been rooted in values.

5 Values of the Aditya Birla Group – Integrity, Commitment, Passion, Seamlessness and Speed.

Values that would eventually become the DNA of our group and would be consistently followed by all of our people. Our values are a moral contract between the employees and the organization. A contract that goes beyond business and economic transactions.

These are the very values that my father inculcated in me. He would say how in his experience at Hindalco, the employees had the attitude of never giving up and instead of blaming the bosses they would work on improving themselves and come up with better performance.

I would always wonder why does my father work so much, and on asking his simple answer was: The company I work in is the best. I love working on my passion. Here we are heard and encouraged by our seniors. The work culture has utmost professionalism.

Living in BIRLA COPPER TOWNSHIP, DAHEJ, GUJARAT, there were times when Power Plant would have emergency situations like breakdown, All my friends’ fathers and my father would rush to the site and worked hard day in and out till the problem was solved, they worked with utmost dedication and it was a given that the problem will definitely be solved in least amount of time.

ABG sticks to it values which are going to be with me for the rest of my life, as you can never forget some memories.

B.) How you overcame challenges to achieve your ambitions in life so far?

Whenever we listen the word challenge, we go into WARRIOR mode and see a picture of hard work, pain and sweat. But what about those challenges which you can’t see or don’t even know they exist!!!

Growing up in a supportive and happy environment I never understood the meaning of despair. I visited my hometown every year for summer vacations and had a great time playing with my cousins and my childhood friends. After my 12^th board exams I could not meet many of my female friends. On enquiring I learned that they were married off. I was told to accept the fate of my friends as they are unlucky to be born in a village.

I remember seeing many of them were pregnant at the age of 19. I understood that just because the government has made a law against child marriage the parents of these girls waited till, they turned 18. They called it a Marriage but it was indeed just a business deal. I protested and was shocked to see my own relatives who were native of the village were against me. They kept saying this is our tradition and we should follow them. My cousins stood by me and then we asked for help from an employee of ICRW (International Center for Research on Women). They suggested to collect proof and then they will help us in every way possible. In the pretext of visiting them we spoke to my friends and asked them to be honest about their problems and how they can come out of the situation if they can take a brave step. There were many who accepted to spill the beans but few were very scared of bringing the bad name to the family, who threw them under the bus. It took us multiple visits to their homes to make them realize just how miserable their lives were, where they were just used as slaves who have no say. Ultimately, we could collect enough evidences and the ICWR workers helped us to file a case against the family members. ICWR has helped these girls by providing them education and jobs.

The challenges are sometimes from the internal factors and fighting your own family for something right is the biggest challenge I ever encountered. It taught me how sometimes to do the right thing you should be willing to walk alone and if you are lucky enough you may get support.

Shruti Gundu

Aditya Birla Group: Nostalgia mode on!!! - SHRUTI GUNDU,TAPMI