Rajkummar Rao's ‘Srikanth’ movie: Meet Srikanth Bolla, the first blind student of MIT | Reel Vs Real
Srikanth Bolla was born in Seetharamapuram in Andhra Pradesh’s Machilipatnam district to a rice farmer’s family. He was a bright student throughout his life. He was initially denied science by all the Indian schools. In fact, when he was born his relatives told his parents that he would be a burden to him. But life had other plans for him.
He went on to study at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in the US, as the first international blind student ever to be admitted with 100 per cent financial aid.
Srikanth Bolla inspirational journey is being made into a biopic with actor Rajkummar Rao in lead. He aces the role of Srikanth which showcases his struggles as a visually challenged boy in the school, in his village and later his college.
Who is Srikanth Bolla?
Hurdles faced by Srikanth Bolla
Srikanth’s school didn’t allow him to study science and math as the state law didn’t permit it. They believed that it would be challenging for blind pupils to do diagrams and graphs which is an important part of the science curriculum. But he didn’t give up and took the board to court with the help of his teacher. All state board schools in Andhra Pradesh were given the permission to admit blind students in science steam.
This was the beginning of his battle against the conventional education system of the country. He was then denied coaching for IIT in the leading coaching schools of the country.
Srikanth didn’t give up. He applied to universities in US instead and bagged five offers, settling for MIT in Cambridge, Massachusetts. He also represented India in cricket and played chess at national level.
After finishing his education, Srikanth returned to Hyderabad in 2012 to build Bollant Industries. His company manufactures eco-friendly products and employs differently abled people. His hard work and educational qualifications makes him stand out in his field. He was named in World Economic Forum’s Young Global Leaders 2021 list.