Scorch woke up with groggy eyes. She got off her bed and headed towards the window. When she opened it, she felt a little nip in the air. She smiled listening to the chirping of the birds coming from a nearby magical tree. Just then, Verum, Orak and Felix walked into the dorm room.
“Wake up, Scorchie! You have to tell us about Srikanth Bolla. My crystal ball had an update earlier. Bollywood is set to make a biopic based on his life is in the pipeline. A biopic is a film on the life of a public or historical figure. Bollywood is one of the Indian film industries that make movies in the Hindi language.
“That’s great news,” exclaimed Scorch rubbing her eyes, “his story deserved to be told.”
Scorch hopped onto a nearby chair. The other three scooched onto a chair opposite Scorch’s.
“Bolla hails from a small village in Andhra Pradesh. He was born visually impaired. His parents were not educated and had financial issues. Today he is a CEO (chief executive officer) of Bollant Industries, a firm he founded in 2012.
But he has faced many adversities in life. As a child, Bolla walked several kilometers to reach his school in rural India, guided by his brother or classmates.
As a teenager, he was told it was illegal for him to study math and science at senior school because of his disability. Bolla was determined to right this wrong. He sued the Indian state and won the case. He did not have friends and his parents were told that it will be difficult for him to find even a menial job. But he had supportive parents who did not lose faith in their capable child.
The next obstacle was to secure admission in India’s prestigious engineering colleges known as IITs (Indian Institutes of Technology). But it was difficult. Instead of getting discouraged, Bolla started applying to universities in America.
In 2009, he received five excellent offers. Bolla accepted admission to MIT, Cambridge, Massachusetts, where he became the first international visually-impaired student. But struggles and problems never left Bolla. Once again, he tweaked his life plan and thought of starting his business.
Bolla returned to Hyderabad in 2012 and founded Bollant Industries: a packaging company that manufactures eco-friendly products. His company’s prime focus is to employ people with physical and cognitive disabilities.
In his 30s, Srikanth has left an indelible mark of overcoming struggles and making your dreams come true,” Scorch took a pause, looked at her friends, and said, “that’s why he remains an inspiration to the youth of today and tomorrow.”
Verum, Orak and Felix stood up from their chair and gave a standing ovation to this amazing human!