Pug to ZooZoo - Life has been fun - Ashutosh Kumar Singh, IIM Visakhapatnam

From fashion to finance, cement to chemical, metal to mining Aditya Birla group is everywhere. Being in the league of Fortune 500, having a presence in 35 countries, employing over 1,20,000 people from 43 countries and more than 16 decades of history speaks volumes about the reach of Aditya Birla Group. Aditya Birla Group under Kumar Mangalam Birla has grown 12 times in revenue in the last twenty years shows the able leadership they have got. He also is an educationist, being Chartered Accountant from ICAI and an MBA degree from London Business School, He currently holds the position of chairman of  IIT Delhi, IIM Ahmedabad and chairman of Rhodes India Scholarship Committee for Oxford University.

Coming to my experience, my faith in ABG is such that the first investment of my life was in "Aditya Birla Sun Life Mutual Fund." And I have been holding it for more than four years now. I am in love with Allen Solley Polo T-shirts, the Quality of product and price is just what a customer requires. Peter England for formal wear is best in the category they represent. Whenever I need a black shirt, I visit Peter England showroom and have never been disappointed by their variety. The "ZooZoo" character for the advertisement of Vodafone has entertained us for almost ten years now. Pantaloons being in nearly every major city of India, provides one-stop shopping solution. You can buy nearly all the well-known brands. The care which is provided by the employees of pantaloons is heartwarming. These all experience of mine provide proof that they are working towards their mission of "To deliver superior value to our customers, shareholders, employees and society at large."

How I overcame challenges to achieve my ambitions?

Been brought up in a family related with agribusiness, I have been familiar with the hard work needed to grow a food grain starting from scratch and how managing time and people are essential for anything to grow as a full proof product. Inspired by my father's business ethics and acumen, I always had a dream to take formal education in business administration.

Having been from an agribusiness family, there was very less importance given to studies due to which my primary education was in Hindi medium government school. Later due to severe persistent illness caused by pneumonia, my parents left me with maternal grandparents so that they could take proper care of myself. That turned out to be an opportunity in adversity for me, my grandfather being a veterinary surgeon, taught me at home and enrolled me in a right school. With his help, I started excelling in studies and did considerably well in my matriculation and won the meritorious award and scholarship from Rashtriya Sanskrit Sansthan for scoring highest marks in Sanskrit in my school. He also taught me how simple living and high thinking is an essential mantra for living a fruitful life. I met with a severe accident in my class 12th, which led to me being not able to perform so well in it. But overcoming all these adversities have given me qualities like perseverance, patience, and self-belief. I completed my bachelor degree in Mechanical Engineering from the Institute of Technical Education and Research under Siksha O Anusandhan University, Bhubaneswar. I did training and internship during my college; most important of them was at Tata Steel Ltd., Jamshedpur on improving the reliability of slag granulation system. It gave me a perspective towards how we can apply our intellect and logic to turn waste material into a profitable product. It also provided me with experience of working in a team in an adverse condition of a blast furnace and the importance of following safety measures and company standards.

The demise of my Grandfather in 2014 made me a mature person; I lost my mentor, the person who I looked up to for anything. The realization that nothing is permanent in life made me value the time I have now; I started investing time in my growth, I joined coaching while I was working and managed the time somehow and fulfilled my dream of joining an IIM.