Renuka Aradhya from Bengaluru begged for a living, now owns a Rs 30 crore empire :- When he was young, Renuka Aradhya would beg for foodgrains, which he'd sell for a living.
Today, he owns a company that employs 150 people and directs three start-ups.
This is his inspiring story.
Renuka was born poor. Very poor. He has seen the kind of poverty that put him on the streets to beg. The poverty that kept him hungry both literally and metaphorically.
Where does one begin to tell this entrepreneur's story?
From pushing a handcart under a blazing sun to now owning a fleet of 1000 plus cars? Or from transporting 300 dead bodies to ferrying foreign tourists who left tips in dollars? Or from failing to clear Class X exams to now rubbing shoulders with the industry's who's who?
Or the fact that with his foresight he was able to ward off Uber and Ola poaching his business, and is making the next generation ready to dream big by bringing his daughter-in-law (who comes from a poor family) into the business.
I belong to a village called Gopasandra, in Anekal taluk near Bengaluru.
My father was a pujari at a temple allotted by the state government though he did not get any fixed salary.
After conducting the puja, he would go to nearby villages to beg for ragi, jowar, or rice. He would then sell the grains in the market and with the money that he got from the sale he would take care of us. We were three children -- two boys and one girl.
I would go begging with my father to these neighbouring villages, which is now Electronic City.
After I finished Class VI, my father thought he would put me in somebody's home as a domestic help to make ends meet. My school fee till Class X was taken care of by my teachers because they would get me to do their domestic work like washing utensils, dusting and sweeping.
I started working for an old man who had a severe skin ailment. I would tend to him, give him a bath, and apply skin ointment all over his body.
Since I belonged to the pujari clan, I also had to perform puja at a nearby temple. After that, I would go to school. I lived there for one whole year.
Soon after, my father admitted me to a boys' ashram in Chickpet, where I remained for three years.
The hostel would give us two meals a day, one at 8 am and the other at 8 pm and nothing in between.
I remember I was always hungry. I could not focus on my studies at all and my mind was occupied with trying to find how I could lay my hands on some food.
I worked at a transport company for four years. Besides ferrying passengers, the company also provided vehicles to hospitals like Nimhans to transport dead bodies back to their homes for the last rites.
I have transported approximately 300 dead bodies across India. And many times, I have done so alone because there was no one from the deceased family to accompany the body.
And look at the irony, immediately after I came back from one of these trips there would be a group waiting to go on a pilgrimage to Sabarimala. I would sprinkle some holy water on the vehicle and get on with the next journey.
This also taught me the impermanence of life. That nothing is enduring. That life and death are nothing but two ends of a long journey.
As you can gather, I wanted to build my own travel/transport company.
A company called Indian City Taxi was on a distress sale. I did not have any knowledge of merger and acquisition, just paisa de do, company le lo (give money, buy the company).
I bought that company in 2006 with Rs 6.5 lakh. I had to sell all the cars that I had by then to produce this money. The company had 35 cabs attached to it and they would make Rs 1000 commission per vehicle, so in a month Rs 35,000 was assured.
I took a lot of risks, which thankfully paid off.
In three years, once I cross Rs 100 crore I will go for an IPO.
As a social responsibility, I want to encourage women drivers.
I am ready to even waive the Rs 50,000 advance if women come forward saying they want to become owner-cum-drivers. We have also created an all-women call centre for Pravasi in Karwar.
I believe in the power of the mind. What we think, we become.
Whatever God has given me, I have shared with everyone. And I firmly believe that because of this I have managed to get myself educated and get rich.
I took my chances and during all those times when I picked up an opportunity even though it was not financially viable, I firmly believed that one day God would give me back double. Otherwise how else can a security guard today drive a Rs 23-lakh car?
full article in the link below
Posted by: Ravi Narasimhan <ravi.narasimhan.in@gmail.com>
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