Aditya Birla Group was founded by Seth Shiv Narayan Birla in 1857, and since then it stands as a multinational conglomerate operating in 35 countries as of now, also being the third-largest private sector conglomerate in India. Along side the huge name and the multi various roles it covers in the industry, it somehow manages to touch the lives of almost every Indian. From things as basic as clothes, to SIM cards, to building materials like cement, Aditya Birla Group has managed to capture a huge segment of the market.
One of the reasons Aditya Birla Group has reached this level of popularity is the realisation of the group of the exact type of market it targets. Considering the example of Pantaloons, and brands such as Liva, Aditya Birla Group has kept in mind the particular type of clothing and the material of the cloth preferred by Indian women. The sizing of the clothes is appropriated according to the general body type of Indian women, and along this comes a sense of acceptance which lacks with most western brands available in shopping malls. With affordable brands like People and Forever 21, Aditya Birla Group has made it easier for young girls to dress themselves in a way they feel good about themselves without making a hole in their pocket.
From a perspective very personal to me, I can say that ABG has helped a lot of women step out of their homes with confidence, and lent a sensation of self love. Jotting all of this on Idea's wifi right now, gives me a sense of the innumerable ways Aditya Birla Group has touched my life.
How did I work with challenges and constraints in life?
"Nothing worth having comes easily in life", read this the other day on Pinterest, and couldn't help but ponder on this. The biggest challenges that I had to work with in life, and honestly the ones I am still working on have to be anxiety and lack of self confidence. I always found it was easier for me to speak in a room full of strangers I was never going to see again, than to state my mind in front of my friends, family or my classmates. Just before I had to present something, I would break into a cold sweat, no matter how noisy it was outside I could literally hear my heart beating out of my chest. Times like this, I wanted to run away and hide myself into a cave.
I wanted to pursue MBA, and public speaking made out for an extremely essential part of it, be it clearing group discussions, or participating in any activity. This is when I decided to take charge, and the first step of this was acceptance, and it did take me a while to realise that I was infact - 'Under confident'. And as much as I want to write a sweet story about how it all worked out for me, the sad part is that I don't have one.
I started to sit more around my family, and tried to speak where I felt like, but everything somehow backfired at me. This all continued until the day I realised that my voice was important. All this happened around the James Charles controversy and I found myself standing up for someone else's justice on twitter, Facebook and Instagram. No matter how toxic this may sound, but the support received in the form of likes and shares did fill me up with a sense of eminence and I felt like I could make a difference, and my voice just isn't lost. Being an introvert it had always been difficult to sit around for small talk, but the importance of my words had made a striking mark in my heart.
Nothing changed magically after this, I still break out into a sweat before I have to speak, but when I start, I know it deep within that I deserve to be heard, what I feel is important, and this has brought about a major difference in my confidence. Sometimes all we need is to stand up for something we firmly believe in, the rest must follow.