Exclusive Interview with Dr Jawahar Surisetti
By Dendy Media
Today we’d like to introduce you to Dr Jawahar Surisetti.
It’s an honor to speak with you today. Why don’t you give us some details about you and your story. How did you get to where you are today?
A rags to riches story of a boy who rose to be an internationally renowned psychologist and a much sought after policy maker for heads of states of the world. It’s a fairy tale story of a rice puff vendor at the age of 8 becoming the advisor of many governments across the world, being featured in the Forbes magazine and adjudged as the one the most sought after personalities by Indian Express. I have more than 1500 global lectures under my belt and I am a multiple time TED speaker. Known worldwide as the Think Professor for my Innovation “ Art of Thinking” to inculcate creative thinking in school college students. It’s a journey that will motivate and spur many.
I’m sure your success has not come easily. What challenges have you had to overcome along the way?
The First challenge was living in a world that considers educational qualifications more important than the skill set. Bereft of these qualifications, I found my way through to the top by sheer grit and street smartness which I learned as a rice puff vendor. With no school background my learnings were the experiences of the clients of my handcart and movies. While the clients visiting my handcart gave me life experiences, movies were the stress buster after a six day rigorous week of 5.30 am to 11 pm. Movies also taught me alphabets and words as well as communication. The second challenge was the survival of the fittest. There were 11 handcarts apart from mine serving the same rice puffs, so I needed to find a way to be able to sell mine better than others and that is where my Art Of Thinking started. I thought creatively with no holds barred and surged ahead of others.
Let’s talk about the work you do. What do you specialize in and why should someone work with you over the competition?
I work in the field of education and have time and again proven to the US State, Indian Government and Australia apart from the many other countries that lack of formal education makes me innovate like no one else especially when it comes to mass education. The ideas and policies that I create are not just novel but affordable and appealing too. I also help corporate boardrooms strategize on building businesses, create products and services for future and benefit society at large. As one of the doyen’s of the start up ecosystem, I mentor youth with ideas and help them build and scale their start ups.
What’s your best piece of advice for readers who desire to find success in their life?
Don’t chicken out. Our mind is made to rationalize failures. We try to explain to ourselves why we could not do a particular thing or why we failed. This creates excuses for our not being able to grow and we pass it on to the next generation. Struggle has to be a part of life and we should learn and fight ourselves out of our struggles instead of leaving it to destiny. If we want to do something, however impossible it may be, we should try and do it. It is better to fail after trying rather than fail without trying. In the former case there will some learning in the latter there will be none. And life is all about learning and growing.
Speaking of success, what does the word mean to you?
Success for me is the measure of our contribution to the society or the world at large. It does not matter to me how much I earn or how much power I possess. These things follow if you are able to make visible contributions to the society and world. For example my projects MyBeti for the health and education of the girl child, Religion of Youth for the uplift meant of the youth, All Time School for the free online schooling of children during pandemic, Apprison for the digital wellbeing of people who are addicted to mobiles, apps and social media; Happea as the medium for spreading happiness to improve workplace efficiency are all examples of my contributions to the society and it is my duty to do so. My UN expedition called Explora is a 19 day youth contact program every year to understand, counsel and share experiences and know them better touching the lives of a million youth and an equal number of parents across the world.
What’s next for you?
My endgame is GPEACE- Gandhi Peace Education and Center for Environment where I wish to create next generation of school and college students who will understand, inculcate and spread happiness, peace and environmental responsibilities for a better future world. Work is underway and we will be on ground by 2025.
Finally, how can people connect with you if they want to learn more.
A google search in my name is good enough, they can follow me on Twitter, Facebook, Linkedin or Instagram or even contact me through my website www.drjawaharsurisetti.com
