Hi Aravind
Can you help me with Srikanth Bolla contact numbers.
Thanks in advance.
Best Regards,
Sushmeetha B. Bubna │ Founder Director
Voice Vision
103, Synthofine Estate,’ A’- Wing, Off Aarey Road, Goregaon (E),
Mumbai –
400 063.
Work Phone: +91 22 40400000 │ Fax: +91 22 40400123 │ Hand Phone:
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www.facebook.com/voicevisionfans -----Original Message-----
From: AccessIndia [mailto:[email protected]] On
Behalf Of Aravind R
Sent: 23 December 2015 10:45
To: AccessIndia: a list for discussing accessibility and issues
concerning the disabled. <[email protected]>
Subject: [AI] The blind CEO who built a 50 crore company
http://www.rediff.com/getahead/report/achiever-the-blind-ceo-who-built
-a-50-crore-company/20151222.htm?pos=1&src=NL20151223&trackid=REtjS/3W
WwpotkJ8n9G/t3Ylc3f1/DrlxAUgzDpNJgo=&isnlp=0&isnlsp=0
Srikanth Bolla (pictured below) 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 Bolla
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 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."
Lead image: Kind courtesy INKTalks
www.yourstory.com
Dipti Nair
--
nothing is difficult unless you make it appear so.
r. aravind,
Assistant manager
Department of sales
bank of baroda retail loan factory, Chennai.
mobile no: +91 9940369593, 9710945613.
email id : [email protected], [email protected].
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