Rags To Riches : Struggle. Not Just Stories!

Never let failure go to your heart. Keep on dreaming.

Success and failure are part of life, you can't run from them if you want to reach the desired destination but, at the same time, they are not permanent. Not all take birth with a silver platter. Some people get enough sources to chase a path since the day they are born but, many of us has to put an amount of struggle and sacrifice to earn the life of our dream. Talent resilience, faith, patience, hard work, and self-confidence makes the way when we start out from a point.

In India, there are people who became as big as their dreams and made their luck themselves. They came from nowhere, overcame all odds through hard work and self-belief and created an unimaginable benchmark. Here are four rags to riches stories that will inspire you to the core.

A.P.J Abdul Kalam -

Dr. A.P.J Abdul Kalam was born in Rameswaram, Tamil Nadu, on 15 October 1931 to a poor boatman. Since his father could not earn much, he started assisting him from early childhood. Daily after the school, he used to distribute newspapers door to door. He was an average student in his school days. However, he was fascinated by rockets and had a passion for mathematics. On completion of his graduate studies with physics as major from St. Joseph’s College in Tiruchirappalli, and aerospace engineering from the Madras Institute of Technology, Chennai, he started his career with DRDO in 1958. He worked there for five years and moved to ISRO and became the Project Director of SLV.

In 2002, he was elected as the 11th President of India. He died on 27th July 2015. He is the epitome of wisdom and benevolence. He is still alive hearts of many and will always be. He said, 'perseverance, hard work, andpatience, are alone the path to progress.'

Narayana Murthy -

Narayan Murthy was born in a Middle-class family. He wanted to be an engineer and successfully cleared the entrance exam of the Indian Institute of Technology. However, he couldn’t get into college as his father could not afford the fees.

He joined a local engineering college and got a degree in Electrical Engineering. After that Narayan joined IIT Kanpur for his Master’s degree and decided to pursue a career in IT. Not many know that he had to depend on his wife, Sudha Murthy’s savings of Rs 10,000 in 1981 to give wings to his vision.

Today he’s the co-founder of a multinational corporation, Infosys and is known as the father of Indian IT Sector and is listed among the 12 greatest entrepreneurs in Forbes Magazine and has also been honored the Padma Vibhushan and Padma Shri Awards. One of his famous sayings is 'progress is often equal to the difference between mind and mindset.'

Dhirubhai Ambani -

Son of a school teacher born in the Gujarati town of Chorwad, Dhirubhai started his entrepreneurial journey by selling bhajias. After completing his matriculation at the age of 16, he moved to Aden, Yemen and worked there as a gas-station attendant, and as a clerk in an oil company.

He returned to India in 1958 with Rs 50,000 and set up a textile trading company.

In 1992, Reliance became the first Indian company to raise money in global markets. Reliance also became the first Indian company to feature in the Forbes 500 list. Dhirubhai Ambani was named the Indian Entrepreneur of the 20th Century by the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI). One of his famous sayings is 'Think big, think fast, think ahead. Ideas are no one’s monopoly.”

Kalpana Saroj -

Described as the original “Slumdog Millionaire” of India, Kalpana Saroj was born to a Dalit family. She was married away at the age of 12, faced mental and physical abuse at the hands of her in-laws.

She attempted suicide after being ostracized by the villagers. At the age of 16, she moved back to Mumbai to live with her uncle. She started working in a garment factory to support her family. Using government loans for scheduled caste people, she successfully started a tailoring business and then a furniture store. She went on to build a successful real estate business and came to be known for her contacts and entrepreneurial skills. She was on the board of Kamani Tubes when it went into liquidation in 2001, and after taking over the company, restructured it and brought it back to profit.

She was awarded the Padma Shri for Trade and Industry in 2013. Her famous saying is 'hard work is not overrated. It fails proof. What you want, whatever it is, you shall get off you apply yourself wholeheartedly and works towards it with a single-minded vision.'