Part A:
Durgapuja has always been the biggest festival in my hometown. The celebration starts with shopping for new dresses, months in advance, followed by a grand finale of festivities, spanning over 5 -6 days.
As We have always been a close bunch of friends, my cousins and I, so enjoying a trip to the mall with them, shopping at Pantaloons has always been a treat for us.
Aditya Birla Group has always been at the background: being a facilitator, making our lives easier. It has seeped into so many sections of our lives. From the Carbon black in our ink and tyres to the Aluminum that is an integral part of our lives; from the fashionable clothes we wear to the Cement that builds our home.
It was the year 2006. My earliest memory was sitting upon a half built stairs while my parents looked upon the undergoing construction of the house. Bags upon bags of cement lay there, piled, at one corner of the makeshift gate. Ultratech Cement. Every holiday, every Durgapuja, when the cousins gather around the table, gossiping, it’s Aditya Birla Group that had somehow played a part into where we are today.
Some 5 years later, we took a journey down the road: A highway, from Kota, Rajasthan to Panipat, Haryana. The road was smooth but the trip? Not so much. A tyre puncture in the middle of nowhere, had left us stranded for over an hour on the road, in the dark night. The Spare tyre and my dad’s toiling efforts corrected that mishap before we could get back to our journey home.
In India, majority of the products that we use daily can be somehow chained back to that one multinational conglomerate that has its roots at Rajasthan: The Aditya Birla Group.
Part B:
It was 2008. A teen-aged girl was sitting in the car next to her brother, while her parents discussed the possibility of them going to Kota for her brother’s studies. The final decision that was taken was for her to follow her father, while her brother and mother go to Kota, stay there for a year.
The girl, I, hence, found myself in a situation much different from what I was used to: conversing with my mother daily through the phone while being able to see her only monthly. The rest of my life went similar to how it was earlier: Wake up, go to class, come back, play, study, sleep. Inside though, I was a missing my mum and brother, a little, everyday.
It was a gradual process to learn to deal with it, though. Over time, I started spending more time chatting with my father. It not only decreased the time I spent alone, but also provided me a lot of knowledge, as he would slip in info and ideas in between.
I also, started experimenting with food. Just to spin a change in the taste buds, I learnt to cook easy recipes like idli, chicken, khichdi. This moment, this pastime has till date, continued to play a part in shaping me today. My father and I once surprised my brother and mother by arranging a surprise trip, but overall, this event has made me who I am today.
