What does a person do when he is faced with a risky opportunity few others have had in their lifetimes; grab onto it with both hands or avoid the possibility of failure ? Such a dilemma was facing me at the start of 2016 when my father invited me to join him in building the dream house he had always wanted. I finally decided to leave my job and enter a whole new world of construction where I would finally work with my father to achieve something he has been dreaming his whole life. One of the first decisions on this novel journey was to decided which cement to use as it as the glue that holds the house together and there would be no compromises in this regard. The only choice we all agreed on was Ultra Tech Cement after thorough market surveys and comparative testing with competitors. The choice was made after reviewing a plethora of factors ranging from its quality to a trust in the legendary Aditya Birla Group (ABG) brand which has never let me down throughout the course of my 26 years.
Now, after 3 years our decision to stick to Ultra Tech Cement has been vindicated when a massive storm destroyed most of the trees in the street where our house is located. These trees fell on various houses and broke most of the walls they landed on while ours remained intact, a testament to the durability and perseverance of this product. Through storms and hail, through the intense Delhi heat and through the various trials & tribulations, our house has preserved of which a major praise goes to this great ABG product.
Perseverance, durability and consistency are the three pillars on which I base my life on with the following being an apt instance.
I remember when I was a fresher in my undergraduate years at Manipal, bubbling with enthusiasm and vigour, I was set to conquer the city and make a name for myself. Due to my almost fanatical interest in football, I was a voracious consumer of anything related to the sport so it was no stroke of coincidence that I was on the playing field a mere 2 days after starting my college life. Life however has a certain kind of humour in how it sometimes deals your cards and through a series of unfortunate events I received a severe ankle injury within a week of playing this beautiful game. My prognosis looked difficult as I was unable to even walk and recommended a month of bedrest but I persevered through it and slowly recovered my strength. This time there would be nothing to stop me and I would soar through the football ground showing off my skill and doing what I loved to do the most; playing football.
As in most tragedies, this was not meant to be as after a few months of rehabilitation, my first day on the field resulted in another injury to the same ankle as last time. The prognosis this time looked bleak and I was distraught and bereft of any hope as even jogging was advised by the doctor to be difficult to achieve for me with my weakened ankle. But the stubborn streak in me refused to bow down to this seemingly insurmountable roadblock and I began on a journey to prove everyone wrong. This perseverance was what achieved the impossible – I was able to run again, never mind jog, in 3 months. My dream of emulating my footballing heroes was alive again and this time I would seize it with both hands. Thomas Edison once said “Our greatest weakness lies in giving up. The most certain way to succeed is always to try just one more time” and I have taken it to heart as the motto of my life. I believe this is what I feel ABG represents with their unshakeable products like the Ultra Tech Cement and why they resonate so profoundly with my life.
