Stumbling upon the Aditya Birla Capital website while researching on companies that provide unsecured business loans was merely part of a regular day at work. As a marketing executive at an upcoming digital financing platform, it was part of my duties to evaluate the additions leading NBFCs introduce to their web portals. Though the name instilled faint reminisces of a tale forgotten, I didn’t give it much thought due to the pressure of a submission due.
The next encounter with the ABGL group was more revealing than the first due to sheer unexpectedness of the brand’s presence. A regular shopping day at Pantaloons, Indiranagar was by no means a new experience. However, that was the first time I was requested to fill the customer satisfaction survey at the billing counter and opted to purchase a shopping bag. While filling the form, my eyes struck onto the red, yellow, orange segments nesting an apparent sun – the very distinct brand logo. Taken aback, I enquired whether it was an indeed an Aditya Birla enterprise from the store manager. This was when the forgotten memory became vivid. A calendar and the experiences of a fresher in the 80s.
The slightly yellowish calendar that hung in my dad’s room at our ancestral house always puzzled me because it was the wrong year. Why would an old calendar gain place on the wall next to framed Raja Ravi Varma classics, I had always pondered. When I was old enough to pose that question, my dad was all nostalgic. After his postgraduate degree in commerce, his first job was as an accountant with Ultratech Cements in 1987.He spoke about how his initial preconceived notions about the industry in general, the structure of the Finance department and the attitude of fellow employees vanished within the span of a week. He went on to work with Ultratech for 2 years post which he was recommended for a position at United Arab Bank, Dubai. He raved about how the values and culture he had gained from his first ever job was retained and passed on to his subordinates as he completes 25years with the bank. In fact, his principle of work ethics was what I carried with me to my first job too.
As I told him how far along the conglomerate has come, he gushed with pride. Such show of loyalty was proof of those unsaid elements an employee imbibes from a brand. And readily passed on to the next generation. Thus, the biggest influence ABGL has on my life is in the form of a gift whose value will remain unmeasurable – a legacy.