Dropping out of high school may have been Abdul Hamid Bhat’s luckiest day. After failing the examination to earn his matriculate qualification, roughly the equivalent of a high school diploma, in 10th grade, Bhat was on his own. He went on to work as a scooter mechanic, earning a few U.S. dollars a month. But he had big plans even amid the hardest-hit days of militancy that roiled Kashmir, India’s northernmost state, in the 1990s. “My passion is to do something for society,” says the 45-year-old Bhat. “I have the will. If you have the will, you can do anything.”
Bhat is now CEO and managing director of the Rahim Group, which consists of three companies including a Maruti car service center, in the Kashmiri capital of Srinagar. The group turnover is US$4.5 million. Bhat has also spearheaded tree-planting and green technology initiatives.
To read the full, original article click on this link: In Kashmir, Entrepreneurs and Educators Preach Optimism and Self-Reliance - India Knowledge@Wharton
