My Journey of Getting Stronger
As a young boy who just passed his tenth class, I was put into a coaching center for IITJEE at
Hyderabad. The new place was a completely different environment, with different language, etc.
It was also quite competitive with other students preparing from as early as class VIII. The
weekly exam scores were used to shuffle the batches every quarter. My initial performances
were very poor and I was allotted the last section. I even scored negative marks out of 80 and
my faculty mocked that even a baby would get more than me because it can not mark answers
and would get a zero. I just thought to keep things simple and do the maximum of what I can.
One lesson I learnt was the importance of focussing on those aspects that can help improve
what we have rather than being worried about factors which are out of our control. I sailed
through the tough times, I got selected into IIT Bombay. Those two years also helped me learn
a new language. You don’t know how brave you are, unless being brave is the only option.
Why Aditya Birla Group Is Big In My Life
Birla group has played at least some part in every Indian’s life. I come from a business family. I
have grown up hearing the stories of the big Indian family businesses running successfully since
pre independence years. I wondered how difficult it would have been to do business in such non
conducive environment under British rule. When I was a kid, I related Aditya Birla Group to
strength because of my familiarity with Ultratech cement. Even when our house was being
constructed, I remember the gunny bags of Ultratech cement stacked near the house
construction site. I used to punch those bags to prove that I am stronger than them. After few
years, I started relating Aditya Birla Group to spirituality. Our family used to travel to different
places for summer vacations and invariably there used to be a Birla Temple in that city. The
temples were big, beautiful and very peaceful. Though it is not part of the conglomerate, I was
too young then to differentiate between an individual and a business entity.
As the years passed by, my adolescence asked for freedom, self expression, making a
statement and much more. The best means available during such times is fashion. As a kid,
always being surrounded by my mom and elder sister, I felt fashion is limited to women. But as
an adolescent I explored the other gender to fashion. Allen Solly was my favourite brand
especially because of its expressive yet subtle sense of fashionable products. I love this style of
simple and classic look. Today my awareness is not limited to only cement and fashion but
many other brands of Aditya Birla Group.
One of the most inspiring things of Aditya Birla Group for me is the way they have grown over
the years, decades and even centuries. Once a player is established in the market, it is very
difficult to continue that position especially when the firm is taken over by the leaders from
different generations. Aditya Birla Group has not only remained established, but it has gone on
a success ride over the years. Its growing diversity in brands, flexibility in business strategy and
even its vision of sustainability have built an internal respect in me for the firm. As a business
student, I aspire to work with someone like them, if not them.
