PART-A: Why Aditya Birla Group is big in my life?

“Taking India to the world!”- Apart from the wonderfully made advertisement, this line really caught my attention way back when that advertisement was launched. Currently the Aditya Birla Group is present in 35 countries over the world influencing millions of lives! But let’s focus on how it influenced my life first. My father works for the Aditya Birla Group (in HINDALCO Industries Ltd., i.e. the Hindustan Aluminium Corporation). He has been working for this group for over two decades. So in a way, the Aditya Birla Group has been a part of my life right from the moment I was born. My first cell-phone service provider was Idea, a subsidiary of the Aditya Birla group. Apart from the service and pocket-friendly plans, what really influenced me was the Idea advertisements. I genuinely looked forward to every Idea advertisement, I loved the way they portrayed relevant and relatable social issues in each and every advertisement. Now I am studying management, in two years, I will be inside the world of business. In that world, there are quite a few examples of how an idea changed not only the fortune of a company, but it also changed the world! Which is exactly what the advertisements of Idea said- “Ek idea jo badal de apki duniya!” which means, an idea that will change your life! There are numerous other brands I have used which are owned by the Aditya Birla Group. (for example, I bought my favourite shirt from Louis Phillipe and I’m quite protective about the shirt. I also shop frequently from Pantaloons). Apart from influencing my life, Aditya Birla Group has been influencing countless lives in a much larger scale. It is associated with 42 schools, providing more than a thousand scholarships and 18 hospitals, which save so many lives. A huge company like Aditya Birla Group possesses the resources and the ability to change the world, and it is doing exactly that starting with India.

PART-B : How I overcame challenges to achieve my ambitions in my life so far?

“It doesn’t matter how many times you get knocked down, what matters is how many times you get back up!” No one’s life is a cakewalk. It’s full of hardships and sufferings but ultimately that suffering builds one’s character. My life is no different.

As I child, while I was growing up. I used to be very shy and introvert. I didn’t like talking much. I couldn’t even express myself properly, not even to my parents. As time passed by, I realised how this was stopping me from seizing certain opportunities because I was too shy to speak up. Fortunately I had some great friends and teachers who introduced me to the world of theatre. I started reciting poems and acting in plays. Gradually my fear of speaking in public started to vanish and I was no longer the shy kid I used to be. Now I consider my communication skills as a huge plus point as it helps me to get along with people easily.

Throughout my school life, I had that one subject that used to give me sleepless nights. The subject was Mathematics. I wasn’t terrible at maths but my fear of maths made sure that I wasn’t good either. So when I decided that I want to study Civil Engineering, (I was really interested in learning how skyscrapers and bridges were designed and made) the first thing that struck me was how can someone who is so terrified of math can be a good Civil Engineer, because in the world of Civil Engineering, even a grass grows with the help of maths. But, instead of running away from my fear, I decided to run towards it. It wasn’t easy, but now when I look back, I don’t see my fear of maths stopping me from being a good Civil Engineer (I was one of the top five students of my batch).

Soham Chakraborty

Aditya Birla Group: Delivering superior value since 1857_Goa Institute of Management