One of the largest conglomerates in the Indian subcontinent, Aditya Birla Group (ABG) and its business footprint can be felt by every individual. It will be easy to say every one of the 1.3 billion people of India consciously or unconsciously see the presence of ABG in their personal and professional lives. Founded 162 years ago in 1857, Aditya Birla Group has its presence in 35 major countries around the world.

I personally am out of the count of the number of ways in which ABG has touched my life. Right from my first formal Peter England shirt to my business suit by Van Heusen, every phase of my life was touched by ABG.

I was in high school when I first started dating a girl. The feeling was new, the heart eyes and cupids all started looking real. Then came a day when I had to go out on my first date with my teenage sweetheart. Until that day I had never ever been fussy about my clothes, the thing that fit was the one to go with. But this was special. This demanded a style, but more than anything, it needed to make a statement. The outlet that I chose then was Pantaloons- A multi-brand outlet that had everything I needed. A shirt, a good pair of jeans, a pair of casual shoes and cologne to be the icing on the cake, I found everything under one roof.

Then came a time when I was on the verge of completing my graduation and companies were knocking on doors for placements. It meant that I needed to be prepared. It meant that I needed to be aware of the current happenings. But lastly, it meant that I needed formal wear for my interviews. Et voila! Peter England came to the rescue. The emotion attached to the cracking of my interview is so immense that I can still picture the striped pattern on the first format shirt I ever wore.

Time passed in the vigorous hours of my first job and I decided to take my career up a notch. I decided to go for an MBA. The day I needed a business suit, there was no other outlet to turn to but Pantaloons. But this time, it was not Peter England but Van Heusen. I still wear the suit I bought then as I am trying hard to make a mark in this competitive business-school environment.

ABG has indeed built its legacy through thick and thin of the business world. The obstacles they had to go through shaped the stature of the company and made it what it is today. This reminds me of the hassles I had to go through in life. The obstacles, big or small shaped my personality and helped me grow as an individual

Until the first few days of my guitar lessons, I was utter chaos. I was clueless up to the level that my teacher came out and said that you should have never touched guitar in the first place. I never gave up on it. I bought myself a new guitar and practised for 3-4 hours a day. The result was that my guitar playing skills improved immensely. In a couple of months’ time, the same teacher was asking me to deliver lessons to other fellow learners in my guitar classes. I felt proud of the hard work I had done, and I felt very pleased with myself after having proved my teacher wrong.

The second challenge that I went through was when I was required to prepare for CAT while working. I was working in an IT firm and the work pressure was extraordinary. Having to manage the time of about 3-4 hours every day was a big task. Anyway, I managed my time very well. I arrived at work a few hours earlier than my shift and studied in the office when no one else was present. As a result, I managed to score a good 96.86 percentile in CAT 2018. I was proud of myself and my parents were extremely proud of me. These are a couple of challenges I had to face while trying to achieve what I was set out for.

VINAY�NAVNEET

Legacy of ABG_IMI New Delhi