Most of the students at my school came from affluent modern families. I could never seem to fit in, the culture and values taught at home were always at conflict with what I learnt at school. During the lunch break students would take out their lunch boxes filled with an assortment of food items, someone would get rolls, someone else would get sandwiches, someone would get noodles and I was stuck with roti and sabji, my mother would time and again tell me that the food that my friends brought, lacked nutritious value, but a 7 year old would never hear a word of that. To make me feel at power with my friends my mother came up with an idea. She would stuff the sabji in the roti, making the whole thing into a roll, and then would wrap it in an aluminum foil. Her simple strategy made me feel comfortable and appreciative about the lunch she would give me and that helped me fit in.
The boom of social networking, a few years down the line, introduced us to the world of Facebook and WhatsApp. To fit in, again, I insisted my father to get us a broadband connection. After immense persuasion, my father finally got us an internet connection. It was a dongle which on connecting to an electrical switch created a mini Wi-Fi zone. I was never interested in how it worked, if it got me what I needed, then it was the best thing in the world. This new gadget helped me stay connected to my friends and helped me fit in.
School ended and soon it was time for college, no more uniforms, no more deadlines, everyone had cell phones, everyone had fancy clothes everyone wanted to stand out and yet everyone wanted to fit in with each other. To fit in, again, I requested my parents for a smart phone, it didn’t matter how much it costs, where they got it from, I needed it and I needed it then and there. My loving parents fulfilled my wish and soon I had a shiny new smart phone that helped me fit in. Clothes were no exception, to fulfill this wish of mine, my mother took me to wide range of elegant and lavish stores, the names of which I couldn’t even pronounce. But obviously that all didn’t matter. All that mattered was that I was able to fit in.
Fast forward a few years, here I am, pursuing a post graduate diploma in management, writing an article and reflecting upon the fact as to how the Aditya Birla Group is big in my life. Only now do I realize that the foil that changed my entire lunch experience was Freshwrapp manufactured by Hindalco a subsidiary of the Aditya Birla Group, The internet dongle and the cell phone both products of Vodafone-idea a subsidiary of the Aditya Birla Group, the various clothing brands such as Louis Philippe, Allen Solly, Van Heusen, Peter England and People all a subsidiary of the Aditya Birla Group. So, I would like to take this opportunity to thank the Aditya Birla Group for always helping me to fit in.
