Rejected By IIT, He Is Now The CEO Of A 50 Crore Company

Srikanth Bolla was born without sight, in a remote village on the east coast of Andhra Pradesh. Because of his disability, the neighbours in the village suggested his parents get rid of him. Srikanth’s parents had plans to educate him despite earning barely Rs 1,600 per month.

“I can do anything” And now after 23 years, Srikanth Bolla stands as the CEO of Hyderabad-based Bollant Industries, an organisation with a turnover of Rs 50 crores that employs uneducated disabled employees to manufacture eco-friendly, disposable consumer packaging solutions. Srikanth’s conviction in life is 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’, reports YourStory. He thanks his parents for educating him and considers himself to be the luckiest man living on the Earth.

Working with Dr. Kalam The school where he used to study initially, did not treat him kindly and always used to make fun of him. However, he was later shifted to a school for special children. There he topped and discovered his love for chess and cricket. He had to struggle a lot to pursue science in 10+2 even after securing 90 percent in his class X board exams. After that again a series of struggle followed when he applied for IITs and other top engineering colleges. He did not even get a hall ticket from IIT because he was disabled. “I was made blind by the perception of the people,” he told YourStory. His tenacity and intelligence eventually earned him an opportunity to work for Lead India Project, a movement to empower the youth through value-based education, with former President Late APJ Abdul Kalam.

Declined by IIT, Accepted by MIT Refused by IIT, Srikanth’s will became stronger and he applied to foreign Universities. He became the first international blind student to get admission to the esteemed Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in the US. And it is during his stay in the US, he decided to come back to India to do something for fulfilling the dreams of people like him. “We helped about 3,000 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.” according to YourStory

The Logical Indian congratulates Srikanth Bolla for the achievements he has earned in his life. We hope people like Srikanth inspire generations. Srikanth Bolla not only inspires us all by his story but also brings to our attention, how we have let down our differently abled people. May Srikanth’s story inspire a wave of reforms that will make our country accommodative and friendly to the differently abled.