How ABG Is Impacting Lives All Over The World - Chitresh Lalwani, NMIMS Mumbai

Ever since I have shifted to Mumbai, I always have the time of my life whenever I visit the Bandra-Worli Sea Link. UltraTech Cement by Aditya Birla Group made it possible for Mumbai to have an iconic bridge like this.

The number of vehicles is increasing every day and to ensure their safety Birla Carbon nanoparticles play a very important role. It caters to leading brands and companies across the tire, rubber, plastic, ink and paint industries globally. Hence Birla Carbon carries a lot of significance in our day to day life.

Grasim Industries of Aditya Birla Group has significantly revolutionized the Indian textile market by popularising 'linen' in India across a wide customer base with its brand “Linen Club”. It also provides Diversified Financial Services which are essential for meeting the financial needs of different people.

When we travel long distances, the first thing that comes in the mind of most of the citizens is Indian Railways. A large share of the copper requirement of Indian Railways is fulfilled by Birla Copper. Hindalco Industries of Aditya Birla Group is the world's largest aluminium rolling company and is also a leading producer of copper. It is estimated that every 2nd can in the world uses Birla Copper. The most used device in today’s world i.e. Smartphones is also covered by Hindalco Aluminium which is used to make cover glasses for them.

A large part of our daily necessities is clothes and Aditya Birla Fashion and Retail Limited(ABFRL) caters to our ever-changing needs in every possible way. With 17 different clothing brands under its name, the lives of people have been made easy and there is hardly any occasion for which attires are not made by ABFRL. Be it Van Heusen for formal dressing or Pantaloons for daily wear, ABFRL covers it all.

The world is advancing towards connectivity and Vodafone Idea Limited of Aditya Birla Group plays a major role in achieving this objective. It is the leading telecom service provider in India and second largest globally. People have access to unlimited calling and web browsing which empowers them to stay connected with the global world.

The Group also reaches out to 7.5 million people across different geographies through its various CSR activities. In this way, it is very obvious to say that Aditya Birla Group plays a very big role in our life.

How you overcame challenges to achieve your ambitions in life so far?

I came from a middle-class family and was fascinated by computers since childhood. But since financial conditions didn’t allow my family to get a Personal Computer for me at that point in time (2002), I made my mind to get it somehow. Most of my friends had a computer and I used to visit their home often to play games on it even if they ridiculed me sometimes. When my mother noticed this behavior of mine, she told me one very important thing about life which I follow till date and that was “If you want something in life, you have to work for it. Don’t go asking for it to different people”. These lines struck me very hard and I contemplated on the same. Our school had a provision of rewarding the student with a personal computer when he secured the highest marks in 10th and 12th standard. This instantly became my goal. I started studying very hard and used to focus only on getting the first position. I secured the highest marks in almost all the standards in the school. The day finally arrived after eight long years, I received the personal computer after securing highest marks in 10th standard (2010).  I was so elated that I carried it on my own instead of letting the school authorities deliver it to me. The sense of pride was immense. Eventually, I did secure highest marks in 12th standard as well.

But when I joined college, I realized that this sense of achievement was momentary. It did not last long. It made me contemplate that though results are important, they are not everything in life. I was missing the whole point, not valuing enough the experience and knowledge. It made me introspect on what happiness means to me. I understood that helping others and doing something that interests me gave me a sense of satisfaction that was unmatched to all other forms of achievements. I started exploring what actually interests me apart from academics. I got my hands on Android Development, developed a few apps. Since I had never flunked an exam in my entire life, I wanted to experience how it feels. I flunked an exam intentionally just to experience the entire thought process of it but made up for it and eventually got Special Merit Scholarship from the University. I was fascinated with photography, so took it up as a hobby and became good it. I was constantly looking to overcome my personal challenges most of which was trying new things in life since I had only focused on studies during school time.

I thought I was mentally strong but my father suffered a heart attack when I was in college. Thousands of kilometers away, I was dumbstruck and didn’t know what to do. I borrowed money from my friends and booked a flight home. By the time I arrived at the hospital, he had been operated successfully. I was extremely relieved. I would never forget the look on my mother’s face that night. I stayed over at the hospital in the emergency ward and witnessed a few causalities.  I was horrified, my heart was pounding hard, yet I asked myself to stay calm. I coped with the situation by accepting it instead of pushing it away. I allowed my fears to unfold and assiduously tried to maneuver my thoughts in the right direction. This experience taught me that sometimes the situation is not in your control and it is okay to be scared. In this way, I overcame one of the biggest challenges of my life.

I had always been interested in travel, health, and nutrition. When I bagged one of the most coveted jobs in the college and became financially independent, I traveled a lot, did a lot of treks, involved myself in fitness and achieved one of my long term goal of sporting six-pack abs. It’s been quite a journey for someone who was just into studies and afterward ventured into different experiences of life. So, the challenge was to keep on evolving with time which I did and will continue to do so in future making perseverance, dedication, discipline and introspection my key strengths.

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