You don’t need wings to fly. The resolve to achieve your goals and the willingness to give it more than your 100% can help you soar high. The person whose life inspires such philosophy is Kalpana Saroj.
Her humble and tough early life wouldn’t have indicated a future so bright. But Kalpana Saroj was determined to break the shackles of her reality and write her own destiny. She was fighting a lone battle but her indomitable spirit was her greatest asset. From being a daughter from an underprivileged background and a child wife armed with just basic education, she went on to become a successful entrepreneur and a devoted social worker. She grew her business empire from three to seven companies with a net worth of more than 1000 crores under the Kalpana Saroj Group. Her business interests span across manufacturing, real estate, agriculture, exports and film production. To her credit, she has revived a company “Kamani Tubes Ltd” which was sick for more than 20years ,Now the company had turned networth positive under her leadership. She also holds commanding positions in several organisations including the Dalit Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Rashtriya Ekta Yuva Manchand was the Ex-Director of Bhartiya Mahila Bank, India’s first bank exclusively for women.
Kalpana Saroj can’t be defined by her business accomplishments alone. Her work for social causes, like women empowerment, education and health care,is equally noteworthy. She has organised activities to protect the rights of downtrodden women, workshops for the unemployed youth and health awareness programs and blood donation camps in tribal areas, distributed books toneedy students and provided food, medicines and financial help to underprivileged patients.
Kalpana Saroj has also been on the world stage and contributed towards making a difference on important global issues. She has represented India in the World Peace Conference, discussed world peace with eminent spiritual and other leaders in Singapore and visited Buddha Viharas in London to discuss social and cultural issues with its Hon. Mayor. Now, she is working on developing a charitable collaboration with The Oxford Centre for Buddhist Studies (OCBS). Her work and commitment to social causes may have taken her all over world, but she remains firmly rooted in the Indian soil. When her country’s soldiers were bravely fighting the Kargil war, she visited the battlefield to encourage them.
By leading such an exemplary life, Kalpana Saroj has attracted a lot of recognition in the form of prestigious awards and accolades. She was even honoured with the Padmashree Award in 2013 in the field of Industry and Trade.
Her achievements are as much a result of her efforts as her principles. Strength in adversity, honesty above profitability, betterment of the downtrodden and action rather than oration are the values she lives by. And it is her life’s mission to work for world peace, women empowerment, social justice for the downtrodden and self-employment. Women like Kalpana Saroj are rare and truly a nation’s pride.
