Every person is special, everyone is talented. You just have to look inside you, what gift you are born with and once you know it, world bows in respect.
This time, The Talented Indian presents the person, who is not only a magical inspiration to the youths but also to the differently abled persons. Born to the poor parents 24 years ago in the east coast of Andhra Pradesh with no light in his eyes, Srikanth Bolla, who was once rejected by IITs is now the CEO of Hyderabad-based Bollant Industries having an annual turnover of INR 50 crore. The Bollant Industries employ uneducated and differently abled youths to manufacture eco-friendly and disposable consumer packaging solutions.
After being born blind and poor, his journey has not been a cakewalk. He has struggled a lot, fought for his right to study in the Indian institutions but had been completely expelled out of the community and social environment. On one hand India is advancing to new levels, while on the other it is difficult to find friendly and welcoming behavior towards the under-privileged sections of the society.
(Pic courtesy YouTube)
In spite of people condemning the child without sight advising his parents to abandon him, they raised him with love and affection ignoring the people advice and also the fact of that they earned only INR 1600 rupee a month, they decided to educate him. However, this news was not welcomed by the society, as their attitude was ruthless towards him and people like him.
Srikanth was never given an opportunity to participate in the physical training classes and often was pushed to the last benches. He has experienced seclusion right from his childhood, as his peers always made fun of him, until when his parents realized his need for the special school, where he discovered his love for chess and cricket. He said that he got the opportunity to work for Lead India Project, a movement to empower the youths through value-based education, with former President Late Dr APJ Abdul Kalam.
What followed next was completely unfair, in spite of securing 90% in class X. He was not allowed to pursue science stream. He says, “I was made blind by the people’s perception of the people”. He decided not to give up and it eventually worked for him. His constant letters to the Government got him the permission to take up science stream but at his own risk. He got his text book converted to audios and despite all the hardships he secured a whopping 98% in his class XII examination.
(Pic courtesy Yourstory)
He later applied for IITs, BITS, Pilani and other prestigious institutions in the country. In response, he got a letter stating that he was blind and hence he was not allowed to apply for the competitive examinations. Then, he thpoght if IITs didn’t want him, he didn’t want IITs as well. How long could one fight?
After facing rejections, Srikanth started applying to the Universities abroad and went on to become the first international blind student to be admitted to the prestigious Massachusetts Institute of Technology(MIT) in the United States of America. During his stay in the United States of America, he found himself dealing with multiple questions with a desire to do something better and fulfilling.
His thirst for justice brought him back to India. Some of the many questions that bothered him were why should a differently-abled child be pushed to the back row in the class? Why should the 10 percent of the differently-abled population of this beautiful country, India, be secluded from the society? Why can’t they make a living like every other Indian with dignity?
He helped more than 3000 students in acquiring educational qualifications and vocational rehabilitation. Then, the another question started to worry him what about their employment? To solve this problem, he started a company which now employs more than 150 differently-abled people.
(Pic courtesy NDTV)
The principle he follows is that one should show compassion and make people rich. He includes people in his life and remove loneliness. We should also start doing something good for others and it will come back to us one form and the other.
Srikanth Bolla stands strong as an ideal example, no matter what obstacles he is born with, One should never give up and no matter how many hurdles life has to offer, one should keep on fighting going. One day troubles will be tired of one’s determination and nothing can stop one from becoming whatever one has dreamt of.
