K M Birla, the emperor

As it often is, the founder of a multinational company is revered and immortalized. But people fail to realize that for a company to last for generations, it needs more than a generation of visionaries.

Aditya Birla group is one such made in India conglomerate, estimated to be third largest private of the country. Though the Birlas have always been businessmen and industrialists, Aditya Birla group shot into prominence during the time of Aditya Birla where clever acquisitions made the company appear on the world maps.

Kumar Mangalam Birla, the current chairman, took over after sudden demise of his father Aditya Birla at a young age of 28. The critiques tipped him to fail as he lacked experience and more importantly did not expect him to fill the shoes of the magnanimous figure that his father was. Here was a man who had done nothing noteworthy, chairing a company with a US$2bn revenue, sprawling over multiple businesses like textile and garments, aluminum, cement and fertilizers.

Fast-forward to two decades and rest assured K M Birla has proved his critics wrong. The company has expanded into numerous businesses from fashion to software and BPO. The company has international presence in over 35 countries. Under the present chairman, the group has been able to achieve a turnover of US$44.3 billion in 2018.

 K M Birla has been able to maintain and further the legacy created by his father than anyone could have imagined 20 years back and needs to receive credits due make Aditya Birla what it is.

Escaping mediocrity

Mediocrity is hard to escape. You are constantly grateful to be not at the bottom of the barrel and yet disheartened when you look above. It requires tremendous will power to overcome as whenever the going gets tough you are thankful for the present state of things as it could have been much worse.

I am fighting the fight to escape this thick sludge of averageness. Not smart enough, not athletic enough, not charming enough, I am playing the game in the hard mode where the game developer has frozen the settings and prevented the player from changing the difficulty level (read: not rich enough to have an easy life).

So, what am I doing to change it?

Grind till I can grind no more. Strive and toil till the mind goes numb. As that is the only way to escape. The hyper competitive environment makes it tough but also acts as stark reminder of the level required to succeed.

 Though the road is long and tedious, I have made progress. From being a second-rate, ordinary student and then working at a run of the mill IT software company to studying at a noteworthy institute. The climb is slow but definitely there. I have realized what need to be done and now I just have to follow the path, do what needs to be done, for this mediocrity is like a slippery slope and will bring you down the minute you stop for a breather.