> The blind CEO who built a 50 crore company
>
> Srikanth Bolla is standing tall living by his conviction that if the
> "world looks at me and says, 'Srikanth, you can do nothing,' I look
> back at the world and say 'I can do anything'."
> When he was born, neighbours in the village suggested that his parents
> smother him.
> It was better than the pain they would have to go through their
> lifetime, some said.
> He is a "useless" baby without eyes… being born blind is a sin, others added.
> Twenty-three years later, Srikanth Bolla (pictured left) is standing
> tall living by his conviction that if the "world looks at me and says,
> 'Srikanth, you can do nothing,' I look back at the world and say 'I
> can do anything'."
> Srikanth is the CEO of Hyderabad-based Bollant Industries, an
> organisation that employs uneducated disabled employees to manufacture
> eco-friendly, disposable consumer packaging solutions, which is worth
> Rs 50 crores.
> He considers himself the luckiest man alive, not because he is now a
> millionaire, but because his uneducated parents, who earned Rs 20,000
> a year, did not heed any of the 'advice' they received and raised him
> with love and affection.
> "They are the richest people I know," says Srikanth.
> Underdog success story
> What is it about stories like Srikanth's that so inspire and fill one with hope?
> Could it be the multiple zeroes after a dollar sign or the belief that
> you and I can achieve similar success if we set our minds and hearts
> to it?
> Underdog success stories touch a raw nerve. After all, everyone faces
> adversity, they dream, and they work hard.
> It is another matter that only a few cross the threshold of limits set
> by society.
> In Srikanth's case, it is his sheer tenacity that shines through the
> dark clouds of his misfortune.
> Being born blind was just one part of the story. He was also born
> poor. And you know what that means in a society like ours.
> In school, he was pushed to the back bench and not allowed to play.
> The little village school had no way of knowing what inclusion meant.
> When he wanted to take up science after his class X, he was denied the
> option because of his disability.
> All of 18, Srikanth not only fought the system but went on to become
> the first international blind student to be admitted to the
> prestigious Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in the US.
> As author Paulo Coelho says, "We warriors of light must be prepared to
> have patience in difficult times and to know the Universe is
> conspiring in our favour, even though we may not understand how."
> Today, Srikanth has four production plants, one each in Hubli
> (Karnataka) and Nizamabad (Telangana), and two in Hyderabad
> (Telangana). Another plant, which will be one hundred percent solar
> operated, is coming up in Sri City, an integrated business city in
> Andhra Pradesh, 55 kms from Chennai.
> Angel investor Ravi Mantha, who met Srikanth about two years ago, was
> so impressed with his business acumen and vision for his company that
> he not only decided to mentor him but also invested in Srikanth's
> company.
> "It was a small, tin-roof shack in an industrial area near Hyderabad.
> There were eight employees and three machines under the shed. I
> expected him to talk about how he wanted to make a social impact, but
> was surprised by the business clarity and technical knowhow in someone
> so young," Ravi says.
> They are raising $2-million (around Rs 13 crores) in funding and have
> already raised Rs 9 crores.
> According to Ravi, his personal goal is to "take the company to IPO."
> A vision to build a sustainable company with a workforce comprising 70
> percent people with disability is no mean task.
> "Srikanth's vision is inbuilt in the company. It is not just a lip
> service to CSR," adds Ravi.
> Isolation a big curse
> "The isolation of differently-abled people starts at birth," Srikanth
> said in his first public speech on the INKTalks stage in Mumbai last
> month. According to him, "Compassion is a way of showing someone to
> live; to give someone an opportunity to thrive and make them rich.
> Richness does not come from money, it comes from happiness."
> When Srikanth was growing up, his father, a farmer, would take him to
> the fields but the little boy couldn't be of any help.
> His father then decided that he might as well study.
> "In my parent's entrepreneurship model, I was a failure. In
> entrepreneurship, we have a lean business model where we evaluate an
> enterprise and say how quickly it fails."
>
>
> Since the nearest school in his village was five kilometres away, he
> had to make his way there mostly on foot. He did this for two years.
> "No one acknowledged my presence. I was put in the last bench. I could
> not participate in the PT class.
> That was the time in my life I thought I was the poorest child in the
> world. It was not because of lack of money but because of loneliness."
> When his father realised that the child was not learning anything, he
> admitted Srikanth to a special needs school in Hyderabad.
> The boy thrived in the compassion he was shown there. He not only
> learnt to play chess and cricket but excelled in them. He topped his
> class, even embracing an opportunity to work with late President Dr
> APJ Abdul Kalam in the Lead India project.
> But none of this mattered much because Srikanth was denied admission
> to the science stream in class XI.
> He cleared the Andhra Pradesh class X state board exams with over 90
> percent marks, but the board said he could only take Arts subjects
> after that.
> "Was it because I was born blind? No. I was made blind by the
> perceptions of the people."
> Having been denied the opportunity, Srikanth decided to fight for it.
> "I sued the government and fought for six months. In the end, I got a
> government order that said I could take the science subjects but at my
> 'own risk'. "
> Thus not 'risking' anything to chance, Srikanth did whatever he could
> to prove them wrong.
> He got all the textbooks converted to audio books, worked day and
> night to complete the course and managed to secure 98 percent in the
> XII board exams.
> Fortune favours the brave
> Sometimes, life mimics a steeplechase. Especially when it comes to
> those it has big plans for.
> It did not give Srikanth enough time to bask in his victory when it
> threw another spanner in the works. He applied for IIT, BITSPilani,
> and other top engineering colleges, but did not get a hall ticket.
> Instead, "I got a letter saying 'you are blind, hence you are not
> allowed to apply for competitive exams.' If IIT did not want me, I did
> not want IIT either. How long can you fight?"
> He chose his battles carefully and did his homework searching the
> Internet to find the best engineering programme for someone like
> himself. He applied to schools in the US and got into the top four --
> MIT, Stanford, Berkeley, and Carnegie Mellon.
> He went to MIT (with a scholarship) as the first international blind
> student in the school's history.
> It wasn't easy adjusting to life there, but by and by he started to do well.
> Towards the end of his bachelor's course when the 'what next' question
> came up, it brought him back to where he had started.
> "Many questions bothered me. Why should a disabled child be pushed to
> the back row in the class? Why should the 10 percent of the disabled
> population of India be left out of the Indian economy?
> Why can't they make a living like everyone else with dignity?"
> He decided to give up the 'golden' opportunity in corporate America
> and came back to India in search of answers to his questions. He set
> up a support service platform to rehabilitate, nurture and integrate
> differently-abled people in society.
> "We helped about 3000 students in acquiring an education and
> vocational rehabilitation. But then I thought what about their
> employment? So I built this company and now employ 150
> differently-abled people."
> Good always rebounds
> Entrepreneur bravehearts like the warriors of Paulo Coelho always find
> one unflinching support, an anchor to keep them afloat. In Srikanth's
> case, it is his co-founder Swarnalatha.
> "She was his special needs teacher in school. She has been his mentor
> and guide through all these years. She trains all the employees with
> disabilities at Bollant thereby creating a strong community where they
> feel valued," says Ravi, adding, "Srikanth is a true source of my
> inspiration. He is not only my young friend and protégé but is also my
> mentor who teaches me daily that anything is possible if you set your
> mind to it."
> The boy who was born blind is today showing many the path to real happiness.
> He says his three most important life lessons are: "Show compassion
> and make people rich. Include people in your life and remove
> loneliness, and lastly, do something good; it will come back to you."
>
>
>
>
కామెంట్లు లేవు:
కామెంట్ను పోస్ట్ చేయండి