Why Aditya Birla Group is big in my life:
From centuries, the word Tata-Birla has been taken together to denote the prominent industrialists of India together. Many times a third name came up, but it has never been able to sustain the way these two have done over the past 150 years. Like the competition says being such a big conglomerate, it is impossible that our lives have not been touched by Aditya Birla group at some point or the other.
For me, the impact of Aditya Birla Group runs long back. My family migrated from a Rajasthan to Calcutta (now Kolkata) in search for a better livelihood. It was made possible with the help of my Grandfather's brother, who worked for the Birlas. With his support, my grandfather was able to establish his own business in Calcutta while sharing a room with his brother in the lanes of barrabuzar.
With a settled business, the two brothers made sure that anyone who comes from our village to Calcutta for studies, setting up a business or what so ever purpose shall be supported. They will not have to worry for a place to live or eat food till the time they get settled on their own. From that same room many of my extended families, cousins have become professionals (like CA's, Traders etc.) and have worked in various capacities over time.
It's only now, my family or relatives understand the meanings of designation, roles and job profiles. In those days back then just the fact that someone from my family is working in Birla was enough to accredit us with status and trust, and although nowadays people have become more aware of these they trust they associate with Aditya Birla Group has only increased day after the other.
The effect of the Aditya Birla group and its products are omnipresent in our lives. My family is into the construction business in which UltraTech Cement has a market share of around 20 %.
To further add to point above, let's look into a normal working day where I woke up in my house. Its made up of brick and mortar which has cement in it ( UltraTech ). I look out through my window to give respects to Surya Dev, which has an aluminium window panel (Hindalco). Meanwhile, I get ready to leave for my work; my mother packs my lunch in a lunch box and uses freshwrap to keep the rotis warm (again Hindalco). I dress up in my formal wear, which is mostly a combination of Louis Philippe, or Van Heusen .I chose those brands since they are the same which my boss uses and it's said you should always dress for the position you aspire rather than the one you're in.
I leave for my home and wait for my bus in a bus shelter, which is also an aluminium roof shelter. The bus arrives and you can see tonnes of aluminium used across in various forms, which has kept the weight of the bus in check (Hindalco). In fact the tyres have used carbon black for manufacturing (Birla Carbon). I attend a morning teleconference which generally updated us about the daily production reports over my phone. Half of the people in my organization have a Vodafone (Now Vodafone-Idea) corporate connection. Even the mobiles we use significantly use aluminium and copper (Hindalco). The electricity lines which are lifelines to any establishment also use copper (Hindalco). Looking back at this it's only been 3hours of my day and the presence of Aditya Birla Group and its products are omnipresent to the extent that you fail to notice them.
While making this draft, I tried to reset the clock once and tried to remove these bits and pieces where you can find Aditya Birla Group in my daily chores and realised that the result is mostly empty. I feel it is a great achievement that a company brings so much to the life of an individual and yet stays so silent.
How Have I Made An Impact:
My family has been running a business in Kolkata since they migrated from Rajasthan sometime in the 1960s. My father was born into the business, and although he has no formal training or a degree against his name, he has been involved in the business since the age of 15. Its like sons are born into the business as they are born into the business. Even now when I talk to my father about his upbringing, he says he never even had a passing thought of working somewhere else. It was always the business that needs to be run. The business has our family name associated with it, and no matter how it performs, whether it's profitable or not, it cannot be left because its more than just a livelihood. It was an identity for our family.
Being the only son, it was assumed that I'd eventually join my father's business, and then came up and said that I want to pursue higher studies and I see myself as a corporate, it didn't rather hasn't gone well across my family. We had a notion that books teach facts while the struggles in businesses show you the reality, and for a while they accepted my demand for pursuing higher studies, the working in corporate didn't suit them.
Before my joining at IIM Ranchi, I worked for the Tata's. When I told them I bagged an offer from Tatas, I don't think they shared that apprehension anymore about me not joining the business immediately, and probably that's got to do with the brand which hired me. For them still, the Tatas-Birlas are the most prominent industrialists of India.