Why ABG is big in my life?
On having a closer look at the vibrant logo of the Aditya Birla Group, one can visualize its unprecedented growth and transformation in the last 50 years. The vibrant sun signifies the visionary foundation of integrity and character laid by late Mr. Aditya Vikram Birla and the crisscross sunbeams symbolizes the multi-dimensional verticals of the group that it has successfully embarked upon in the last 5 decades. The peak surmises the ABG’s growth from US$2 billion to US$44.3 billion expanding across 34 countries not only in a plethora of diverse sectors but also by having culturally diverse employees belonging to 42 nationalities. It shows the courage of the group’s leadership to never fail in taking up new challenges head-on, and above all inspires young minds like mine to do the same.
From telecom, metals, cement to financial services, fashion & retail, ABG has touched my life on numerous counts, sometimes even unbeknownst to me. The apparels that I wear ranging from casuals to formals come from trusted brands like Peter England & Allen Solly & the customer experience that they provide me at the retail outlets of Pantaloons are unmatched. By bringing the world to India through its partnership deals like that with the American Eagle Outfitters, it brought to me and my loved ones some of the world-class quality denim wears. The global leader in the production of carbon black, high-performance insulators, cement and telecom industry have a pivotal role in the backdrop of India’s as well as my development. Through supporting sturdy infrastructures through varieties of quality cement, connecting people through its telecom services, playing essential role in safe transmission & distribution of electricity, and providing sustainable mobility through its high-end carbon black served to tires industries, ABG has played a major role in building India since Independence, which in turn has given my life a smooth curve to develop upon.
Also, ABG is playing a huge role in cultivating the untapped entrepreneurial potential of India’s youth to strengthen the innovations in the breakthrough technologies for curbing plastic pollution and transforming logistics through collaboration with government’s StartupIndia initiative.
All this reflects how BIG impact it had in my life and promises to only bring more powerful stimulus in the future.
How I overcame challenges to achieve my ambitions in life?
I believe our life is the story that our choices weaved at certain junctures in the past. For me, nothing has ever come easy, and if I had not chosen to stand deterred in the face of various rejections, my story would have been completely different from what it is today. The courage to stand up to those rejections and making my own way to meet my ambitions to succeed in various facets of life have been the most challenging bit.
During the 1st year of my under graduation of engineering, I was rejected to be a part of the esteemed Team BAJA that makes ATVs from scratch and competes nationally. Being an automobile enthusiast, I had a decision to make: let go of my passion to work on building automobiles or do something about it. I took the road less travelled. It was certainly not laid out in pen & paper, but along with the grit and passion I had within me, I co-founded my own team that will go on to design and fabricate Go-karts and participate in an all-together different set of competitions nationally. For me, the real challenge was not the success that followed my team right from its inception, but it was to cement its place in the eyes of students and management, as it will go on to inspire the upcoming batches to get up and start doing something for what they love against all odds.
Opportunity to take a courageous decision knocked my door again when I decided to not resign from my job for CAT preparations and continue with the vigorous work-life in one of the leading petrochemical manufacturing industry of India. The job demanded me to be on shift duties, meaning I had no normal 9 to 5 job. It not only affected my strategies for CAT preparations but also my sleeping schedule and health. Amidst all this chaotic work-life, the fire inside me to get into a top B-school fuelled my resolve, and here I am, writing this answer, representing one of the premier B-schools of India.
As Winston S. Churchill told “Success is not final, failure is not fatal: it is the courage to continue that counts,” and I have never stopped since.