It is for Today and will be for Tomorrow-ABG, Nikita Iyer, SIBM Pune

• It  insures  your life                                 Birla Sun life Insurance         
• It gives your style                                    ABG fashion and Retail
• It caters your asset                                 Birla Sun Life Asset Management Company Ltd.
• It keeps you connected                             Birla Idea cellular Ltd.
• It  bridges the distance                           Worli Sea Link built by Ultratech cement(ABG)
• It is Tomorrow and Today                        Future Group( ABG )
• It values our money- Shares                   Birla Global Finance Ltd.
• It values safety and sanitation                 WASH pledge by ABG

ABG is not only for todays, but also for tomorrow. It has a wonderful vision of a  sustainable strategy to cope with the world of 2040 at below 2 degree C. ABG helps people  take both mitigation  and adaption. As a big conglomerate, it has always been sensitive to environmental factors and customer centric issues. They have been very particular about the carbon emissions from their manufacturing units and are switching to “green” cement production which will significantly reduce pollution and will also focus on developing more greenery around their units.

The most memorable experience that is close to my heart was at AADYAM theatre festival-NAU-DO-GYARAH play, an ABG initiative held in Mumbai. Myself being a theatre artist and a theatre enthusiast, I was amazed to see such a big conglomerate taking efforts to bring a change in the entertainment industry by making it more accessible by developing and supporting diverse groups, tying up with the top notch theatre production houses of Mumbai and putting up great shows giving the audience an enriching and unforgettable experience while watching the play right from a venue at a big Bandra auditorium to getting to meet some biggies from the Television and Theatre industry.
Seeing Kumar Mangalam Birla Sir at the event was definitely a cherry on the cake (How I wish I could have gotten a selfie with him!). I was really glad to know that the production was an inspiration from the classics like graphic novels, gangster films, Bollywood of the black and white era, and the films of Alfred Hitchcock and Charlie Chaplin which are his favourites.

I have also had a chance to interact with the team of ABG at a management students’ conclave and I just can’t stop gushing over how inspired I was after listening to their experiences with ABG from their beginning of their career and how ABG has actually offered them a wide range of flexibility to work at leadership positions. Their humility and story has certainly captured every aspirants’ heart and youngsters like me just can’t stop dreaming of working with one of the topmost company of India, Aditya Birla Group.

The merger of Kishore Biyani group Pantaloons to ABG is an applaudable story to be read by all. It has given a high standard of values about any group of people in big business, the story tells that morale and humanity is far above than business mergers and related issues. The human connect to the dealing has definitely moved me.

I have always been keen on seeing how the big corporates bring about a change that is really feasible and impactful to the lowest strata of the society and then I read about the WASH pledge. In January 2015, the Aditya Birla Group signed the World Business Council for Sustainable Development’s WASH Pledge. The pledge encourages businesses to confirm that they supply safe drinking water, good sanitation and hygiene for all employees across all operations. The signing of the pledge was symbolic of the Group’s support towards making workplaces healthier and safer. The pledge to meeting the WASH standards is more than building washrooms. It is also a conscious effort in making the workplace inclusive, conducive to employee growth and a step toward attracting and retaining the right talent.

Adoption of these new technologies is a significant step for Hindalco towards achieving its 2030 aspiration of reducing specific energy consumption and emissions by 35%.
What better way of actually boosting and contributing to the Swachh Bharat Abhiyaan.

As a Human Resources student, I was intrigued by the Dhar Cement works project (DCW) project that stands out for two major achievements and had prime importance for the safety of their workers. It was constructed at a record low cost and with ‘zero safety incidents’. The team devised the novel concept of corporate audit committees and ‘zimmedars’ (governors) involving workmen and supervisors for compliance with safety regulations. Training and supervision experts were also hired to ensure safe and incident-free operations, especially during scaffolding and heavy lifting. The UltraTech safety standard was widely disseminated to ensure compliance by all stakeholders.

Aditya Birla Group, a $US44.3 billion corporation in the league of fortune 500, has certainly made a wonderful impact on all aspects of life be it social responsibility, environment, customers, workers, entertainment, fashion; ABG has it all.

HOW HAVE I MADE AN IMPACT

                You have asked me to think back on some change I’ve made in my life, that turned out to be one for the better! I am going to tell you what the change was and when it happened. I’ll give you a bit of detail about how things were different for me after the change and finish by describing what it means to me now, a bit later in life. The funny thing about changes is that you don’t always recognise them at that particular time. For me, I didn’t know when I started out that the positive change I was making would turn out to be a long term difference in my behaviour. Changes are inevitable parts of human life. Transformation, changes, hopes and challenges make our life exciting and worth living. Some changes are unexpected while some are long expected and meant to bring something good for us. Often changes define who we are and put us in situations we either find very challenging or favourable. This topic reminds me of an important part of my life when a change brought something positive in my life. Let me describe myself first. I am a dreamer and with nominal looks and not so fairy background always dreamt of  appearing on silver screen through my acting talents , knowing my limited resources, I kept the fire in me ignited even knowing ,my family was not behind my ideas and actually opposed it strongly . Years passed on, I shifted to Mumbai after my B.E. to join an IT company. I started missing my life at a small town even though I enjoyed the stay in Metro and its fast life, but I was missing myself in the mad rush. I was supposed to be glued to my computer and desk as a software engineer. My work got into my head and my passion and life started getting out of me .I freaked out when I started putting weight , started losing interest  and became frustrated.

 The change was basically when I decided I needed to get a bit fitter mentally n physically, and the thing that helped me do so was joining theatre in Mumbai along with my 8.30 am to 6 pm job as a software engineer. I had a very monotonous job, was not able to do any creativity in my work, I slipped into somewhat partial disengagement. It was a tough call, but I stood by my decision giving 2 hours daily to my rehearsals. I wanted to get out of the boredom and stiff routine and join theatre. That was the only option to rejuvenate fully by exploring one’s emotional crest and trough. My emotions erupted like molten lava whenever I used to perform the role of the oppressed girl in the much talked role of mine in “POOJO” an experimental play (Theatre of cruelty).  The fear of being bonded and getting to boredom was broken through my acting skills where I got free hand on my extended acting. Though the 2 hours were very hectic and tiring as I used to travel by Local trains, reaching my PG late evenings and then cooking myself, but that somehow gave immense amount of happiness and fulfilment. The 8 hours desk job had added extra calories in the initial days, but the same was burnt after I joined theatre. The best part was that I was compelled to interact and converse with actors of different genre, age and experience, I got excited and started making new boundaries around me which gave a new definition of learning to me. I found a new of myself, who dared to cross boundaries. Took up challenging and taboo roles with ease and was at comfort while conversing and discussing different perspective of events and shades of life. I matured by each single performance, I was applauded and this gave a boost for my next performance. I started giving houseful shows and got recognition.  But my road to progress had many speed breakers – soon some of my seniors took a note on my extra activity and started passing comments and made me to stay extra hours by assigning newer works, for which I was not prepared. My PG mates had objection of using kitchen at late hours, as it disturbed them. I howled and cried as things and people around me were not supportive enough, but as a hard worker and being determined to face any challenge, I faced this issue with faith and positivity and could remove this bottleneck too.

 Now I am happy that I dared to take a decision for a better impact on myself and inspire people around me to never stop chasing what one actually wants to have or do.