Dalit Padma Shri winners walk down memory lane

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Aditi Phadnis New Delhi
Last Updated : Apr 01 2014 | 1:36 AM IST
Ravi Narra is not ashamed of saying that his father was a mason, his mother a housemaid and he a Dalit. His mother, he says, used to make a few extra rupees making and selling cow dung cakes. He studied in a municipal school - simply because his parents were ready to go without a meal but not allow their son to miss a single day of education. He would walk barefoot to school, frequently on an empty stomach.

On Monday, President Pranab Mukherjee conferred a Padma Shri on him and he was the toast of the evening at the after-party where tables in Delhi's most expensive five-star hotel groaned with food of every description and drinks from all corners of the world.

Over the hubbub and the noise of popping champagne corks, Business Standard asked him how it felt.

Narra smiled.

"Good," he said simply.

Narra is a name in Andhra Pradesh's construction industry. He lives in a mansion he has built himself and drives a luxury car. "I have tried to always remember where I came from," he says. The Confederation of Indian Industry consults him frequently on how to make business inclusive.

Rajesh Saraiya with roots in Uttar Pradesh's Sitapur district is the son of a central government officer. He faced discrimination in a much more subtle form: "There are always people to remind you where your place really is," said his brother-in-law. Saraiya went to the Soviet Union to study engineering in Aeronautics. He completed his Master's in Aeronautical Engineering from the National Aviation University, Kyiv, Ukraine.

During his final year, perestroika and glasnost had taken over Soviet Union and the country was breaking up. Ukraine became independent in 1991. By now, Saraiya who had learnt the business of trading during his collage internship had already begun to source products not available in Ukraine from Germany, beginning with computer keyboards. He got a job with Nippon Ispat that later became a Laxmi Mittal company. His wife Kasturi still treasures the $50 American Express cheque that Laxmi Mittal presented to the couple as a wedding present. Saraiya decided he would work for himself. He began sourcing steel to Tata Steel. That he spoke Russian like a native helped. His company, Steelmont has a turnover of just under a billion dollars annually today.

It was the compere, who, after introducing the Padma Shri awardees summed the feeling in the room: Jubilant, joyous. "Kaun kehta hai aasma mein suraag nahin ho sakta, zara tabiyat se patthar to uchhalo yaar," he said, beaming.

Founder Chairman of the Dalit Chamber of Commerce and Industry (DICCI), Milind Kamble, was awarded Padma Shri last year.

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First Published: Apr 01 2014 | 12:25 AM IST

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