No body knows his or her destiny. Hari Kishen Pippal was a rickshaw puller when he was a Class IX student.

His father was a shoemaker and was laid low by paralysis. And now, at the age of 56, he owns a state-of-the-art hospital in Agra, Uttar Pradesh.

Hari is not a single Dalit in this part of the state as several Dalit entrepreneurs run hotels, own factories, beer bars in Agra and adjoining areas.

However, till now, no one had thought to establish a multi-speciality hospital before Hari Kishen.

He said:

I primarily thought whether a non-medico like me would be able to run a hospital. I also wondered whether my caste would be a hurdle. But I decided to go ahead anyway.

Now, he is a successful man. He employs many doctors including five Dalit doctors and encourages medical practitioners from his own community for good social cause.

Hari Kishen said further:

I want to prove that given an opportunity, they can be as good, if not better than the rest.

The most important part of Hari Kishen’s personality is that he was not a college-educated person but comfortably speaks six languages such as Hindi, Tamil, Punjabi, English, German and Russian.

The non-Dalit doctors, who are working at Heritage hospital, say that this is a better place place to work. Doctors from higher community are working in this hosp[ital with greater satisfaction.

One doctor Gaurav Sharma said:

Someone asked me, you are a Brahmin, why are you working there? My answer was that I am a doctor and for me, caste is not a factor.

Hari Kishen had started his journey from a single 10 feet by 12 feet home in a shabby locality. Now, he lives in a luxurious home with nine air-conditioners in the town’s posh Lawyer’s Colony.

In 1980, he had left his job in his father’s shoe factory and had started his own company, People’s Export, with a bank loan of Rs 20,000.

later, he made his first million manufacturing and started exporting shoes to various countries such as Bulgaria, Russia and Germany. He also supplied Hush Puppies to Bata and Thomas Bata visited the company on three occasions.

During the political problems in Germany and East Europe, he had lost his money and shut shop. Now, after years, he has a motorcycle dealership and the hospital and he is trying to relaunch his shoes business again. The group’s overall turnover is around Rs 20 crore.

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