The Spirit That Prevailed……

Gifted with a fabulous sense of humour, forthright attitude and great culinary skills, 23-year-old Shravan from Chennai is a visionary who finds inspiration in every big and small opportunity that promises to make the world a better place.
Shravan grew up with the learning that nothing comes easy in life; and that the best view comes after the hardest climb. Shravan gives a glimpse into his conviction when he says, “I have always been passionate about doing something each day and making a mark in whatever I undertake. I believe that one needs to be passionate about at least one thing to be able to live life with complete satisfaction.”
Passionate about cooking, Shravan can talk endlessly about this skill and the cuisines from across the world. He nostalgically says, “As a kid, I used to begin my day by asking my mother, ‘Aaj Khane me Kya hai’? A wonderful cook that she is, she would always make my favourite dishes, and hence I think, it’s in my genes.” He shares that his love for cooking is not only known to his friends but also to the faculty of EDII. During an event at EDII, he put up a Dosa stall where he received around 250 dosa orders. Shravan, therefore, had always wanted to be in a business which was in some way or the other related to his interest. However, he was not very keen on setting up a food processing business directly, but wanted to be in some area which was related to his inclination.
Doing business was not new for Shravan as his family is into business of shoe manufacturing and he had grown up seeing them discuss business. As he says, “My interest in entrepreneurship stemmed from the roots that I come from. My family is into shoe manufacturing business, therefore, becoming an entrepreneur was the only dream which I harboured.”
But there was one twist here. Shravan was always sure that he wouldn’t delve into his family business; instead, he wanted to start something of his own. Hence, to understand the nuances of business, he wanted to learn. He surfed the internet to gather details on the syllabus of various business-related courses and eventually came across EDII’s PGDM-BE course. He probed into the course curriculum and without any doubt took the plunge. “My two-year stay at EDII has been the best phase of my life. I realised that the world of business is so vast. I explored lots of opportunities and participated in several conferences, seminars, workshops which helped me gain exposure and expand my network. EDII put my entrepreneurship plans in the right perspective.”
Shravan started scanning the environment for opportunities and after a lot of exploration he developed a bio-gas plant that uses old flowers, leaves and rotten fruits and vegetables to produce bio-gas. Shravan shared that the idea came from a temple where he worked as a volunteer. During that period, he had noticed that a bio-gas plant was installed near the temple premise to convert the flower offerings into biogas and fertilisers. That was the first trigger for Shravan, as he claims.
He reminisces, “It was difficult to convince my father. He had always thought I would join the family business. But I had done my research and crystallised my plans.”
Somewhere, Shravan was convinced that his idea would fit the demands of the time and that of the world. As he puts it, “ If people start treating their waste at the domestic level, it would not only reap benefits for them but also drastically bring down the overall waste generation, thus impacting the environment positively. I am happy to be in this space. I had always wanted to be indirectly close to veggies, fruits and food but could not figure out how. This opportunity makes me feel that I am a tad bit closer to my kitchen passion. Eventually, someday I may diversify into something directly related to food.”
Shravan says, “Devotees donate huge quantities of vegetables to the temple and at times, most of it goes waste. He added that in such circumstances, the excess vegetables could be used as fuel in the biogas plant.” Shravan also has another well thought-out plan. He wants to link toilets with the bio-gas plants so that sanitation problem, which is widespread in India, could also be addressed.
Shravan concludes, “A lesson I cherish and keep talking about is to be completely honest and transparent. There’s nothing worth doing if you can’t be transparent with yourself and your people. Hard work and patience pay. In the ‘get big, get rich’ world, a lot of young people think that success comes fast but it needs patience and long-lasting effort.”

Today, Shravan is an example for other potential entrepreneurs…we wish to see him as a change maker and wish him the best in all his endeavours !!!
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