What an
inspiring story. It made my day..
Heights of
great men, reached and kept,
were not
attained by sudden flight.
But they, while
their companions slept,
were toiling
upwards in the night!
- H. W. Longfellow (Psalm of
Life)
Have a nice
day
From
studying under the streetlights to CEO of a US
firm!
Here is the rags-to-riches story of an extremely talented boy from a small village in Tamil Nadu who has risen to be the chief executive officer of a company in Seattle , USA . It is also the story of how Kalyana Raman Srinivasan, who was so indigent that he had to study under a streetlight, but then managed to score excellent marks, rose in life and became today's Kal Raman.
At every turn in his life,
he took the difficult path and it turned out to be the right one and in the
right direction. His rise to the top is more dramatic than a thriller. Today, he
is a very successful entrepreneur and the founder-CEO of
GlobalScholar.
Read his extraordinary story of triumph and determination . .
.

Difficult
childhood
Kal Raman was born and
brought up in a small village called Mannarakoil in Tirunelveli district of
Tamil Nadu. It was a comfortable normal middle class life for him and his
siblings as his father was a Tahasildar there. But the sudden death of his
father at the age of 45 changed everything overnight. Kal was 15 then. "My
mother got a pension of Rs 420 a month and you can imagine how tough it is to
educate four children and feed five mouths with Rs 420?"
Hi life changed dramatically
after his father's death. The family moved from the rented house to a hut that
had no proper water supply or electricity. Kal Raman remembers, "All of us used
to study under the streetlight and, thank god, the streetlights used to work
those days! MGR (M G Ramachandran) was the chief minister then. We had to sell
the plates to buy rice to eat and my mother used to give us rice in our hands.
That bad was our situation."
But his mother, who had
studied till the 8th standard, was very particular that her children studied.
"All our relatives wanted my elder brother to stop studying and take up the
small job offered by the government but my mother wanted him to continue
studying."
"Then they wanted me to
learn typewriting and shorthand so that I could get some job after the 10th
standard. But mother said, 'My children are going to get the best education I
can offer. Education is our salvation.' She was my hero for her vision and she
still is my hero."
What kept the family going?
"We were sad but because we accepted our fate, we were at peace with whatever
that happened to us. We knew our father would not come back to lift us up from
poverty. We also knew our salvation was a long way away."
He didn't know why he used
to tell his mother, "One day I will give you so much money that you will not
know what to do with it!" Years later, he did exactly that!
First turning point in life
First turning point in life
Kal Raman believes that God
played a hand in all the major turning points in his life. The first turning
point in life was after his 12th standard. He got good marks in both the
engineering and medicine entrance exams, and for engineering, he got admission
at the Anna University in Chennai while for medicine, it was in the Tirunelveli
Medical College .
"While going in the bus with
my mother to join the medical college, I told her, "If I join for medicine here,
the high probability is that my life may begin and end in Tirunelveli. I really
want to see the world.' She agreed with my decision to go to Chennai and join
Anna University and study Electrical Engineering and Electronics."
So, he stepped into a new
world outside Tirunelveli, and that was Chennai. Though he had got merit
scholarship and a lot of good people helped him pay the initial fee, the
scholarship amount never used to reach him regularly or on time.
"The mess fee was Rs 250 a
month and I used to be a defaulter in the mess at least six months in a year.
Till you pay the mess fee, you cannot eat in the mess. So, I used to live on day
scholars' lunch boxes and also use to fast. That is when I learnt to fast ! I
must say a lot of friends helped me with money and food."
Scarcity of money was so bad
that he had no money to buy food just before the final semester exams. When he
gave his final semester exams, he had not eaten for a day-and-a-half. "After
finishing the exam, I almost fainted."
The day after the exams came all the scholarship money that was
due and it was around Rs 5,000. "So, I went home a rich man and that helped us
repay some loans."

First job
Like opting for Chennai and
joining Anna University instead of a college in Tirunelveli, Kal Raman took
another risk with his first job also. His first job was with Tata Consulting
Engineers (TCE), and he had a choice of joining either Chennai or Mumbai.
Although he knew nobody in Mumbai, he chose the capital of Maharashtra
.
He remembered the first day.
"It was interesting. With bag and baggage, I went to the TCE office after taking
a shower at the railway station as I had no money to go to any hotel. After the
first introduction at the office, the manager noticed that I was wearing
slippers to the office. He called me and said, "I don't care which college you
are coming from but this is not acceptable. You should come in shoes
tomorrow."
I said I couldn't come in
shoes the next day and this the manager construed as arrogance. "How could you
talk like this?" he asked me. I said, "Sir, it is not that I don't want to, but
I can't afford to buy shoes. Only after I get my first pay cheque, can I buy
shoes. Sir, I request you not to terminate my job because of this. I and my
family need this job."
Shocked to hear the explanation, the manager asked, "Where are you staying?" and the reply was, "Dadar Railway Station."
Shocked to hear the explanation, the manager asked, "Where are you staying?" and the reply was, "Dadar Railway Station."
So distressed was the manager to hear Kal speak that he
immediately released a month's salary in advance and also arranged for him to be
at his friend's place till he could find a place to stay. "He bought me a pair
of shoes and those were my first shoes. The next day, I sent Rs 1,500 from the
advance to my mother."
From electrical engineering
to programming
Kal's rise in career was
meteoric in a short span of time. Within a month, he got a chance to move to
Bengaluru (then Bangalore ) and also to programming. Soon, he was in Chennai
with Tata Consultancy Services (TCS). Within a few months, he was sent to
Edinburgh , UK .
From Edinburgh , his next stop was the United States . In 1992, he went to the US as an entry level contractor with Wal-Mart. In two years, he was a director running a division.
From Edinburgh , his next stop was the United States . In 1992, he went to the US as an entry level contractor with Wal-Mart. In two years, he was a director running a division.
When he left Wal-Mart after
six years, he was a man running the information systems for the International
Division of the retail giant.
In 1998, he joined drugstore.com Online Pharmacy as the chief information officer and in 2001 at the age of 30, he was the CEO of the company.
In 1998, he joined drugstore.com Online Pharmacy as the chief information officer and in 2001 at the age of 30, he was the CEO of the company.
He was at the right place at the right time. "God was there at
every step guiding me to take the right decisions. I was also willing to take
risks and tread new paths," Kal says.
Starting
Global
Scholar
Philanthropist Mike Milken
who had donated more than a billion dollars to education, wanted to use
technology so that high quality education was accessible to ordinary people.
Milken convinced Kal to join him. That was the time Kal was building schools in
his village for poor students.
In October 2007, Global
Scholar was launched targetting both teachers and students by acquiring four
companies -- National Scholar (USA), Classof1 ( India ), Excelsior (USA), and
Ex-Logica (USA) -- that were into education.
"Three months after the
launch, I travelled all over the US , India , Singapore and China talking to
teachers and companies and the public. I found that the only way to impact
education was by impressing teachers. The biggest scarcity in the world is good
teachers. We decided to help teachers with teaching practices and kids, learning
practices."
Kal Raman decided to concentrate on the US market as the US is more advanced in using technology. "They are also willing to pay money for technology. At present, schools buy the material which can be used by teachers, students and parents."
Kal Raman decided to concentrate on the US market as the US is more advanced in using technology. "They are also willing to pay money for technology. At present, schools buy the material which can be used by teachers, students and parents."
Today, they have 200 people
working for Global
Scholar in Chennai and 150 in the
US . The study material is prepared in the Chennai office.
The company that was started with $50 million will have in excess of $32 million and will generate $5 million of profits. In 2008, the turnover of the company was Rs 40 crore (Rs 400 million) and in 2009, it was Rs 80 crore (Rs 800 million). In the current year it will be 150-160 crore (Rs 1.5-1.6 billion).
The company that was started with $50 million will have in excess of $32 million and will generate $5 million of profits. In 2008, the turnover of the company was Rs 40 crore (Rs 400 million) and in 2009, it was Rs 80 crore (Rs 800 million). In the current year it will be 150-160 crore (Rs 1.5-1.6 billion).
"Global
GlobalScholar will soon introduce a pilot project in India and
China . In the course of all this, Kalyana Raman became Kal Raman. "The country
gave me everything and took half my name."
Giving back to
society
Kal Raman is in India now
for the Kumbhabhishekam of the temple at his village Mannarkoil. "It is taking
place after 500 years. It is the culmination of two-and-a-half years of work. I
have spent more than one and a half crore rupees (Rs 15 million) to renovate the
temple and do the Kumbhabhishekam. More than anything else, I have given jobs to
all my friends in the village who are masons and carpenters."
Other than this, he has also adopted all the orphanages around his village and he takes care of around 2,000 kids, some of whom are physically handicapped.
Other than this, he has also adopted all the orphanages around his village and he takes care of around 2,000 kids, some of whom are physically handicapped.
"I feel if I can educate
these children, eventually we can make a difference in the society. We also help
100 children in their higher education. Around my village, everyone knows that
if a kid who studies well cannot afford to pay fees, he has to only come to my
house; his education will be taken care of."
"I do not do this as charity; its my responsibility. I am giving
something back to the society that
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