Of setbacks and comebacks

Until Rajkumar Rao-starrer biopic Srikanth hit the OTT platform earlier this year, little was known about the resilient and rebellious Srikanth Bolla. The visually impaired Bolla is an entrepreneur-industrialist, who founded Bollant Industries, which manufactures sustainable packaging products from waste. He was also the first visually impaired international student at Massachusetts Institute of Technology, USA, where he pursued a management course.

While the brilliant Rajkummar Rao impressed many with his refreshingly honest portrayal of Srikanth Bolla in the film, the real subject of the film is more spirited and defiant. “Nothing is impossible until it is done. I was a born hero, not made into one. I believed in myself and my abilities, and that has worked out quite well for me,” said Bolla, who was in Amritsar to address young entrepreneurs at the Young Entrepreneur of the Year challenge hosted by Invictus International School. After the film’s release, he feels happy when people recognise him often. “It feels good to be acknowledged and when people tell me that they feel inspired by my story. I believe that loneliness is real poverty and my fight is against this loneliness that people with disabilities are subjected to. That is true inclusivity.”

A life nothing short of setbacks and comebacks, Srikanth degree of self-awareness and knack of presenting harsh truths with a dose of humour is intriguing, as also inspiring. His nonchalance in talking about each aspect of his life is equally impressive. “I had a dream to become a doctor, but I couldn’t due to my visual impairment. So, then I manifested that I could marry one. And that I did,” he shared, as he talked about how he courted his wife Veera Swathi, a doctor, for years before marrying. “I had thought that it was a robot or AI that was trying to connect with me online. It took me two years to realise that it indeed was a girl,” he said.

Embracing one’s vulnerabilities is never easy, but Bolla does that with a confidence that defines him. “I became quite self-aware at a young age, realising that I may be visually impaired but I had a vision. When someone told me that you cannot do this thing, my immediate response to it was — I will do it. In a way, hardship has become an addiction for me, it’s in my DNA now. So, I feel that all it takes in life to succeed is a ‘no’,” said Bolla.

Born in a farming family in Andhra Pradesh’s Seetharamapuram village, Bolla has sight impairment but never really let it come in his way. Whether it was a long walk to school every day or taking the state government to court over the access to study science for children with disabilities, he has remained resilient and stubborn, to break the mould and create his own path. Setting up Bollant Industries, Bolla is working towards empowering the marginalised through financial independence and turning waste into wealth. A strong believer in karma, he is all game for disruption. “Innovators are disruptors and they should be given a chance to find their purpose and a life of dignity,” he believes.