The open curriculum gave me the opportunity to explore my academic interests to the fullest. Before coming to IIM Indore I thought I knew what I wanted to do but that was based on a high school limited education and on teachings from my parents. At IIM Indore, I was able to explore for myself what I like to learn and figure out what I want to do for the rest of my life. The amount of freedom and autonomy I have in creating my education plan is the best part of being at IIM Indore.
I think that there's a very good balance of academic and social life at IIM Indore. When you ask people how they're doing, the answer is inevitable "really busy" -- both with class work and whatever crazy extracurricular thing they're into -- but somehow, that constant state of business doesn't seem to hinder people's social lives. We share a mutual sense of guilt that we should be working, but we all know how unhealthy that is.
As most MBA students learn, especially during the first weeks at business school, the academic, social, and professional activities are so plentiful that it is not feasible to participate in every one. It would be cool to do them all, but that is not possible. The solution is not easy: learn to say “no” — or as a famous poster in my Facebook office used to say, practice “ruthless prioritization.”
During business school, I learned to focus on questions like how to prioritize my time, what matters most to me, what is important but not a priority, and how to spend my time purposefully. Also post-MBA, I plan to spend time every week reflecting on whether I am devoting the right amount of time to the activities and people that matter most to me.
I spent two years applying to CAT. The first time I was rejected and IIM Indore did not even call me for an interview. Had I not been patient, I would not have had the privilege to live such a great experience. The second time I applied, I reflected a lot on the reasons I was rejected, and I tried to improve my application as much as I could. It took lots of effort, time, energy, and patience. If I think about the achievements I am most proud of, I see that they all took time, persistence, and lots of failure, too! Sometimes we want to have something immediately, and I am that type of a person. But that is not always possible.
I want to continue being patient for the things I care about the most. Even though I find being patient is quite demanding, I cannot think of any better solution.
Which ABG company would you want to work for and why?
Some companies run by Mumbai-based conglomerate Aditya Birla Group have ranked high up on lists of great places to work. $40 billion group, says job-seekers shouldn’t give much credence to these lists.
'Planet Fashion' is a men’s clothing brand. Commencing in 2001, Planet Fashion now has more than one hundred fifty retailers in 100 villages throughout India. Planet Fashion, right now, is an acronym being a menswear getaway giving comprehensive closet alternatives for all those occasions, around price things, while using greatest brands throughout each category.
The Aditya Birla Group’s retail store enterprise – Madura Fashion & Lifestyle – is one of the strongest developing brand clothes corporations throughout The Indian subcontinent. Global marketing involves models like Van Heusen, Allen Solly, Philip Britain and Louis Philippe. Madura Fashion & Lifestyle has 1607 shops, covering 2.2 sq. ft. connected with the retail store room. It has 1,500 premium multi-brand shops along with 320+ departmental shops worldwide. The company outsources engineering, textiles and apparel.
The Aditya Birla Group is the world's largest producer of Viscose staple fibre. It operates from India, Laos, Thailand, Malaysia and China. It owns the Birla Cellulose brand. Apart from viscose staple fibre, the group also owns acrylic fibre business in Thailand, viscose filament yarn businesses and spinning mills in India and South East Asia. The group has pulp and plantation interests in Canada and Laos. It also owns the Domsjö factory in Sweden which exports viscose today. The Swedish government is hoping to negotiate further investments in Sweden, in particular in the hyper-modern future biorefinery in the city of Örnskökdsvik. Its two companies i.e. Aditya Birla Nuvo Ltd and Grasim Bhiwani Textiles Ltd which is a subsidiary of Grasim Industries are in the textile business.
I have worked in telecom business for few years, I am really passionate about this, Aditya Birla Group is the majority shareholder of Idea Cellular. Idea Cellular was started as a joint venture with the AT&T and the Tata Group. After an IPO on the Indian stock markets, Idea Cellular now
accounts for a third of the group's market capitalisation. The company is headquartered in Mumbai.
-Vinay Chauhan