Ashok Khade’s story is one that needs to be told to give enough motivation for the people who are feeling low. Ashok’s father was a cobbler and living was never been that easy for the whole family who was more than happy for getting at least one square meal a day.
We are leaving it to your imagination as to how Ashok faced such tough times in his young age itself. He had to often go to sleep without a meal and by doing so will help him beat his hunger. “Once, I went to get flour from the mill during the rains but dropped it in the water. When I got home, my mother said there was nothing else to eat. I can never forget that incident.”
They neither had no comfortable place to take rest nor they had no proper home. Ashok was born in a village ‘Ped’ in Maharashtra’s Sangli district. He belonged to one of the six children in the family. Coming from the Dalit community of Chamars, their traditional job was to skin dead animals.
He did this work by sitting under a tree in the busy city of Mumbai while his mother had to ply her trade as an agricultural labourer in the farms of upper caste land owners. The entire family was under financial pressure where money worries caused them stress. Ashok was a bright student despite lack of electricity and inadequate nutrition.
From social ostracisation to lack of opportunities, Ashok’s family went through discrimination throughout the entire process. However, Ashok realised that nothing is going to change unless someone does something soon. So, he made up his mind and went to college and then worked at a government-run shipyard in the city.
After gaining formidable experience and the necessary skills in offshore maintenance and construction, Ashok started to write a new chapter to his future as he started his own company, DAS Offshore. The company empathises with fabrication work on offshore platforms for energy as well as infrastructure companies.
Today, his company employs 4,500 people and has an annual turnover of Rs 500 crore. This is called SUCCESS! Nothing is impossible and the word impossible itself says I’m possible if you had viewed it through a different perspective. This story certainly must have warmed our hearts and motivated us to work beyond our imagination.
