ABG in my life
Where to start? This is the question that was in my mind when I started writing this article because I was confused. But this is obvious. Obvious because I am going to write about a group that has industry presence in two out of the 3 basic needs of a person for survival (food, shelter & clothes). Oh Yes, Internet and connectivity are also the basic needs of this era, it has ticked those boxes too. Apart from these, Financial Services, Insurance, Mining, Metals, Insulators, Chemicals, Fertilizers, Textile, whichever sector you look at, you can find its presence. Yes, the group of companies I am talking about is Aditya Birla Group, One of the largest conglomerates in the league of Fortune 500 with 38 companies, over 1.2 Lakhs employees belonging to 42 countries, having its presence since the great “Sepoy Mutiny” or the First War for Independence of India (1857).
I spent my childhood in a typical small town in Odisha, where most of the nearby village people come for their daily needs and weekly shopping. I still remember the day when for the first time I came to Bhubaneswar and entered the Pantaloons store with my uncle because this was for the first time I was about to purchase something from a mall. I was skeptical, like many, about the products because I had a pre-occupied thought process that the products in a big store are too expensive compared to the quality. But that thought didn’t last long that day. Thanks to the product range and quality offered by Pantaloons. This was my first interaction with the Aditya Birla Group. Like the popular saying, the first impression lasts long; I always preferred ‘Van Heusen’ or ‘Allen Solly’ whenever I needed a pair of formals starting from appearing in college placements in my graduation to Joining my Company to appearing in my B-School Interviews to the Business Leadership talks in our college campus till date.
My Father is a Civil Engineer. I have heard numerous times telling him to the contractors to never compromise on the quality of the work, for which he always stresses on two things; Good quality of cement and the proportion of the materials. His first choice has been UltraTech cement since I remember. Needless to say, when we started building our own house it was the same UltraTech cement which we used.
Earlier this year, there was a marriage ceremony at my home. We did all the shopping beforehand. In the eleventh hour, we noticed that we were short of a few clothes. I had to rush to the market to buy them as guests had already started to arrive. As mentioned earlier, being in a small town I couldn’t find out the proper garments and was disappointed. Suddenly I noticed a newly opened Planet Fashion outlet at one end of the market on my way back home. As a desperate attempt, I entered the outlet and to my surprise, the salesperson showed me exactly what I was looking for. Hard to believe, but I visited that shop 5 times in 2 days' duration to get all the required apparels, as we figured out more and more dresses in the “to be bought” list. Many would have experienced such miscalculations during family functions. Thanks, Planet Fashion, for coming out as a saviour.
Success is a continuous journey
Sports, Specifically martial arts have been a vital part of my life. I started learning Karate in early 2010 when I had just completed my 12th grade. It is a very slow learning process. One has to be absolutely focused and patient to learn the art of karate. Any martial art in this world is like that per se. Watching action heroes like Bruce Lee and Tony Ja was my single biggest motivation to learn karate. But after learning the art for almost a year I could very well realize that it is much easier said than done. In the course of my learning, I got many opportunities to play in various state and national level tournaments and represented my state, own various medals but never won a gold. For every player, getting a national gold medal is a great achievement and I was no different. I kept on learning and got my first big achievement in late 2013 after almost four years. No, It was not the national Gold, It was my “Blackbelt”. It is a very common saying in Karate that your actual learning starts once you become a Blackbelt. The same was for me.
It was mid-may in the year 2015; I was in the last semester of my engineering. The semester exam was just over, everyone was so happy for the end of the 4 years of a roller-coaster ride. I was happy too but was worried because I was about to leave for Amritsar in 7 days to represent my state in the National Championship. Once one becomes a Blackbelt, the competition becomes tougher as you are allowed to compete only with the black belts and I was well aware of it. But to my surprise, I was 67 Kg at that time which was 6 kg more to my regular weight category of 55-61 kg. I had to reduce at least 6 kg plus practice like anything. At the same time, I had to vacate my hostel room too. I knew it was going to be very tough for me but I remained calm, talked to my coach and requested our college authorities to allow me to stay back for a week. I was allowed but I had to stay in the hostel alone, without the mess facility, which used to be a place of more than 300 students. While my friends were leaving the place with memories, I was preparing to create memories by practicing day and night. Finally in a week, with the constant support of my coach and my fellow player, who helped me a lot in the practice, I not only lost 6 Kgs but also participated in my regular category and bagged the National Gold, which once I dreamed of. That event taught me that hard work and perseverance is your perfect partner in the journey to Success. For me, this journey is continuous as I got my Blackbelt-2nd Dan early this year. Probably I can take some rest at the next bigger milestone in the journey - Representing India in the Olympics.
#XIMB #ABGWooMe #ABGLP