Aditya Birla Group is a conglomerate which has its presence in 35 different countries. It accommodates around 1.2 lac employees and makes lives bigger for all its stakeholders. It touches all the aspects of our life, be it telecom, apparels, financial and insurance services, metal & cement, sustainable technology etc. Its brands are a common name in our daily lives, being pervasive yet unique in their essence. Whatever the group does, the focus is always to make lives better, efficient and convenient through its business practices and focus on environment sustainability.
Aditya Birla Group is one of the oldest names in the business world. The accomplishments the group has achieved is not only because of its sheer and honest efforts but also due to the foresightedness towards sustainable development and incorporating them into its every-day business practices. For example, the Vodafone-Idea limited especially focuses on waste minimization, energy conservation and carbon footprint reduction; right now 19% of Idea-owned towers use hybrid energy, thus reducing the carbon emissions by 52 thousand tonne per annum. The Aditya Birla Science & Technology Co. Pvt. Ltd. primarily focuses on sustainability research and energy conservation studies; with this they are also working towards fresh water conservation and waste water treatment and management, it will prove to be a significant step in the ongoing Jal Shakti Movement. Apart from this, the group comprises of a fully dedicated Corporate Social Responsibility section known as the Aditya Birla Centre for Community and Rural Development which is handled by Mrs. Rajshree Birla; it is one of the group's core values to give equal importance to business and philanthropy.
For me, Aditya Birla Group played an even special role. It was the one-stop shop for all my requirements and made my new journey a bit more special. Anywhere I am, I feel connected to everyone with the Vodafone-Idea cellular network, it makes me feel like home in a strange place and happy in an unknown environment. I didn't have to face any hassles with my network when I moved from my hometown to Delhi; with this network I got the option of unlimited access to calls and data anywhere and everywhere I go. It provides its offers at reasonable prices, hence every customer exceeds his or her expectations out of the service. When I wear anything from Pantaloons, I feel confident and comfortable. Aakriti and Rangmanch makes me feel traditional and lively. Agile and honey make me feel sporty and energetic. Annabelle makes me feel glamorous and graceful. All these I get to be under one roof, at one place. The apparels at Pantaloon or the various subsidiaries of the group like Van Husen, Forever 21, Allen Solly gives me the chance to be versatile and just myself at the same time.
All these values and practices of Aditya Birla Group, made my life a little big by being big in my life.
At an age, where every youngster is conscious about his/her career goals and prospects, I was at loggerheads with my choices. When others were trying to turn their dreams into reality, I was trying to make my reality equate to my dreams, just trying to fit in content within my professional journey, contemplating every second about the decisions I made and the steps I took. Questions were 24*7 revolving in my head, is it worth to quit? Should I quit or not, that too after coming so far? Will I be happy with the tag of a “quitter” all my life? It was a fight between me vs. me, it didn’t matter what others will say, what others will think, what I thought about myself, was only important.
I started as a CA student in June 2013, completed the 1st level well. There after the real journey started the 2nd level of CA. There was change in the study pattern, the time invested and the entire life style from being a student to becoming a professional. In the 1st year of article ship, I couldn’t anymore deny to fact that this is not what I want to do for the rest of my life, this is not the area I will be able to reach my 100% potential. I was good at whatever work was given to me and did it to best of my abilities but missed the drive of excitement and curiosity. I always thought that when I will start my articleship, my interest will increase in the CA course, because I will get to know the real-life applications of my theoretical knowledge. Though it was a rigorous knowledge-intensive journey and that knowledge will be useful for me in every aspect of my life, it didn’t help me grow as I planned, and I wasn’t able to do any value addition to the profession, my studies or myself.
A firm believer of the quote, “Finish what you set to start”, was now confused to go forth on the path I laid out for myself. I was becoming critical of myself it was my fault as I couldn’t make my studies and work interesting for myself. I started questioning everything I did, punishing myself by not giving myself a chance to start afresh and becoming too hard on myself. At the end it was up to continue what I was doing, just for the sake of doing it or to pursue something I knew I wanted to do since childhood, so I started preparing CAT, while doing my articleship.
While my preparation, I saw myself in a new light, explored my latent capabilities and shortcomings as well, learned how to make my capabilities visible and my shortcomings negligible. I learned the tactics to channelize my energy productively and positively by remaining fit both physically & mentally, by assigning tasks to myself every day and following up, by asking not what the problem is but how that problem can be solved. I mustered the courage to take second chances and saying it is okay to be okay with my choices.
I also learned to take a well informed and researched decision, to know ‘my why’ for the path I am choosing.
I cannot change my past, yet I can prepare for my future. I took a risk to put on hold something I invested almost 4 years of life and started from scratch again. It is said, you can’t give up until you find your answer and I won’t until I do.