ABG - From a vision to million dreams - Abhijeet Sharma, IIM Visakhapatnam

The group has now grown to be one of the biggest Indian private sector conglomerates with presence in over 34 countries and operations in various sectors like telecom, textiles, financial services, non-ferrous metal, mining, cement, carbon black, branded apparel, insulators, etc. But it’s not just the massive business empire that the group has built all around the world.

They operate over 20 hospitals all over India and conducts 5000+ camps every year in rural India. They also run over  50 schools, Birla Institute of Technology and Science, MP Birla library in Mumbai and offer merit scholarships to students. The group also organizes skill training programs in rural areas. The group has also helped in setting up a windmill projects in Maharashtra. They have partnered with WHO, Australia India Council, Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, Habitat for Humanity, CII, European Union (EU), Global Compact Network, etc to drive social work. With this and much more, Aditya Birla Group will always be remembered by society for not just being an industry but an organization which aims to give to the world as much as it can.

Biggest challenge in my life

“Sometimes hurdles aren't really hurdles at all. They’re welcome challenges, tests.” Paul Walker

There comes a point in everyone’s life when your dreams become so challenging that you start doubting yourself. It is in that moment that you need to decide either to face the hurdles or accept the defeat.

For me that moment was in my last year when I decided to go for management studies and started preparing for the same. The biggest challenge for me was performing at par with the added responsibilities at my workplace and managing my time between office and studies. I had completed two years at work and was now expected to take additional responsibilities along with the daily tasks. The things didn’t start well, additional responsibilities led to extended working hours. Meeting the expectations at the office was a challenge in itself. Though I was giving full efforts from my end, the results were not satisfactory. Studies weren’t going as planned either. The scores in the mock exams were a lot less than what I needed to get admission in one of the top management schools in the country.  Things were not going as I expected them to be.

I had a choice to make either I should focus all my attention to the office work or increase efforts from my end if I wanted to go for management studies. Being determined and with an optimistic mind set, I decided to face the challenge. With six months left for the CAT examination, I made a study plan. I kept small targets for every month. To manage my deliverables in office, I used to plan my activities in advance. I cut down on my breaks in the office to save some time. Soon I was able to manage the workload and was also able to find ample time to continue with my studies. Things started to turn in my favor with every passing day.

 All the effort put in the last six months paid off really well. I scored well in the CAT examinations and was able to secure admission in one the top-notch business school, IIM-Visakhapatnam.