My Tears, Srikanth Bolla

While having lunch and scrolling through Netflix, a random movie called "Srikanth" popped up. It's a real-life story that I started watching casually, but trust me, it was filled with so many emotions. I found myself crying during almost every scene in the first half and again for a few minutes at the end.

In short, this is a story of a visually impaired person. Well, I didn't start this blog to write a movie review; I am writing to express my emotions and the reason behind my tears.

Srikanth Bolla, a visually impaired Indian, scored 96% in his 10th grade. He aimed for the science stream in college, but due to his visual impairment, he was denied admission. With the help of his teacher Devika, he filed a court case, won, and completed his intermediate studies with 98%. After topping his intermediate exams, he aimed to try for IIT but faced the same issue of denial due to his impairment. He then applied to MIT in America, completing his degree there with the help of a scholarship from Haldiram, an Indian business.

You might ask, "Why are you crying when everything turned out well?" 

Well, my tears are for the opportunities and the valuable people we as a country missed and the ones we are still missing due to our late considerations and steps. Despite achieving great things, we are still lacking in many aspects, and the most heartbreaking part is that only a few get the limelight due to the unnecessary involvement of multiple ideologies at a time on the same topic, and media, and social media priorities.

You might say, "Rajesh, this is an old story; nothing like that happens now. Recently, a visually impaired person got a seat in IIT Hyderabad, and another visually impaired woman overcame barriers to get into IIM Indore, and there are many such stories."

I am honestly happy that we have started advancing and growing stronger day by day. But my point is that countries like America, the UK, and many advanced countries have been way ahead of us, at least 10 years, due to advancements and considerations in various fields, from long back. These advancements do not happen overnight; they happen only if we embrace considerations and transparency with willpower, education, skill, and open hands. They are wealthy in many fields because of these advancements, considerations, openness and much clarity (and I am not just talking about money when I talk about wealth). My pain is about our need to think more broadly and with foresight, the need for transparency, the need to take calculated risks, and no pressure on everything through social media and media. Additionally, just like those countries, we must invest more in education, innovation, and infrastructure, encourage everyone to keep learning and improving by creating such an environment, focus on sustainability, and engage in solution-oriented debates in colleges as well as parliament (mainly), and empowerment. By doing all these (Note: I am not advocating anything new than the points that advanced countries are following for centuries), we can create a more prosperous and forward-thinking society.

One urgent thing we need to stop doing is blaming politicians for everything. We sideline ourselves by pointing fingers at politicians. I do not want to get into this because I won't stop writing if I start on this point. There are many things we need to correct about ourselves first. Are we really perfect? There's no such thing called "perfect" in this world. But are we really trying our best, or are we just blaming politicians to escape us? This is a question I would like everyone to introspect on.

Coming back to the topic, Srikanth Bolla, whether this quote is true or not, said a dialogue in the movie that struck me hard and caused deep mental anguish: "India doesn't need me," he said, and then he went to MIT.

Immediately, my heart responded, "No, Srikanth, India needs you. Indians need people like you."

Anyway, when that was my first pain, the second that caused me great distress... Despite reading many books, newspapers, and even school textbooks to understand what we are feeding our children and what we are as a society, watching Srikanth Bolla in the movie made me realize that we have so many underrated things, people, and work that need to be appreciated and promoted (One of the major roles of Social Media and Media). Are we recognizing value after someone has died, majorly? Or am I on the wrong path in understanding society..? is still a question...

People should know about the struggles and work of Srikanth Bolla and people like him, especially children and the youth. He is an inspiration. Not just him, but many others as well. This is my sorrow and frustration behind this blog.

Today, my entire diary is filled with tears and questions. I am happy that at least now I have come to know about him.

By the way, for the first time in my life, I understood how people become fans of an actor. What a brilliant performance by Rajkumar Rao. I hate to call myself someone's fan so not daring now as well, but honestly, his work made me start loving him.

One question still haunts me: "Where to start?"

Live. Long. India.