Fertile Nous- 24 July 2016

He is 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.Now, a 24 year old blind entrepreneur from Hyderabad employing around 150 people. Despite getting 90% in class 10th, he was not allowed to chose Science stream for 12th; he sued the State Govt., fought for 6 months, and won the case. He scored 98% with Science in 12th. When IITs and NITs didn't give him hall ticket for writing competitive exams, he applied overseas, and got selected in 4 of the best colleges ever created on Earth: He chose Massachusetts Institute of Technology, received a scholarship, and was MIT's first International blind student.After returning from US in 2012, he launched BollantIndustries , where 60% of employees are poor, physically challenged and manufacture eco-friendly, disposable consumer packaging solutions, which is worth Rs 50 crores.

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.

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.”

Source: Yourstory & The Indian Feed