The founder and CEO of Bollant Industries wrote his own destiny after his parents were advised to get rid of him because he was visually impaired at birth. The Forbes Asia 30 Under 30 alumnus gives rare insights into his journey of fighting economic and sociological barriers, and his biopic, Srikanth, starring actor Rajkummar Rao
Srikanth Bolla, Founder, Chairman and CEO, Bollant Industries
Image: Mexy Xavier
When Srikanth Bolla was born in July 1991, his farmer parents, who barely earned Rs20,000 annually, thought they had won a million-dollar lottery. “I looked like gold, I looked pretty,” he says. It was only when they bathed him for the first time and held him under a kerosene lantern at their modest home in Seetharamapuram village in Machilipatnam, Andhra Pradesh, did they realise that his eyes were shut. When they noticed that their first child wasn’t opening them at all, their worst fears came true. “They thought I wouldn’t be able to see and that’s what it turned out to be. Their entire world shattered in front of them,” explains Bolla.
The neighbourhood went mad and bombarded the couple with negative barbs. “This is a big sin… you must have done something wrong in life to give birth to a child with both eyes closed. You must get rid of him,” they insisted, adding that the young mother could bear more children. Though uneducated, Bolla’s parents, who are first cousins, refused to entertain such thoughts. They decided to accept him, and give him all the love and care. “They thought I’d sit at home and hear the street dogs entering our house, and protect it,” Bolla tells Forbes India in an exclusive interview. “It shows that every creature that comes into this world has some meaningful purpose,” he adds wistfully.
Bolla chose to write his own destiny though. Today he is founder, chairman and CEO of Bollant Industries, an eco-friendly recycling company headquartered in Hyderabad that offers packaging solutions and employs differently-abled people. The 32-year-old who worked closely with former President, the late APJ Abdul Kalam, as a teenager has numerous achievements to his name, including being featured in Forbes Asia’s 30 Under 30 in 2017. His remarkable journey is now the subject of a movie—Srikanth, starring Rajkummar Rao in the lead role. “I was already super inspired just by listening to his story. But after meeting him, I was really moved,” the actor says. “I learnt a lot by spending time with him. He has a positive and never-give-up attitude towards life… no matter how many hardships one encounters, if you are persistent, you can come out as a winner.”
Also read: When The Blind Lead The Blind, To Success