KAKATIYA UNIVERSITY, WARNAGAL
ENGLISH FOR CAREERS
UG CBCS- SEMESTER 6- TEXTS
UNIT1: Sreelakshmi Suresh (prose)
(Youngest Girl Web Designer and Youngest CEO in the World)
In 2009, entrepreneur
Sreelakshmi Suresh founded a company to design professional websites for
clients. She had a fair bit of experience at web design already, and had even
won domestic and international awards for her work. Still, running a company
would be a challenging task nonetheless-especially when she also had homework
to attend to. For Sreelakshmi was just eleven years old, and with the launch of
her start-up, eDesign, she had become one
of the youngest CEOs in the world.
Sreelakshmi
Suresh was born in 1998 in Kozhikode, Kerala. She started using computers at
the age of three. In the late 1990s and early 2000s, computers and the internet
were not essential components of a household. Pioneers of the IT industry such
as Steve Jobs, Bill Gates and N.R. Narayana Murthy were well known, and young
admirers dreamt of emulating their successes. However, design applications
available for a home desktop personal computer were few and quite basic.
Sreelakshmi's parents, Suresh Menon (a lawyer) and Viju Suresh (a school-teacher),
owned a computer and taught their young daughter how to use it. Sreelakshmi
used Notepad to type letters and learn the English alphabet; she used MS Paint
to draw and colour pictures.
These early
experiences helped Sreelakshmi become familiar with computer programmes. She
grew curious to see what more could be done with a computer, and her parents
actively encouraged this interest. Suresh would often tell her to try out
something new and different. He showed her websites designed by young children
who were about her age or older. He noticed that most young web designers were
boys, and believed that his daughter was just as capable as them. Sure enough,
when Sreelakshmi tried her hand at web design, she proved to be a quick
learner.
For the next few years,
Sreelakshmi spent every free moment after school teaching herself how to design
websites. After finishing her homework, she would work on the computer for as
long as her parents allowed. Though her parents did worry about the
consequences of spending so much time on the computer-especially the strain on
her eyes-they also knew that she was not merely playing around. Their daughter
was working hard, and they were confident that she would benefit from the
experience.
Sreelakshmi
proved them right when, at the age of eight, she designed a complete, sophisticated
and fully operational website for her school, Presentation Higher Secondary School,
Kozhikode. She had taken it upon herself to design an official website for the
school after realising it did not have one. The result was far better than the
school could have. ever imagined. The website she created had information about
admissions and curriculum, the history of the school; its faculty members,
students, headmistress and staff; as well as a section allowing parents to ask
for and view their children's school reports.
The school
website garnered worldwide recognition for Sreelakshmi. Over the next few
years, she was the recipient of nearly thirty awards from different countries.
These include the Golden Web Award, the Art Space's World Web Award of
Excellence for 2006-07, the Webmasters Ink Award, and the Global Internet
Directories Gold Award, to name a few. Two honours deserve special mention. The
first of these was Sreelakshmi's enrolment in the American Webmasters
Association. A professional group founded in 2003. the American Webmasters
Association connects and supports those individuals responsible for creating
innovative websites through design, management or marketing. At the time of her
enrolment in 2007, Sreelakshmi Suresh was the youngest and only member below
eighteen. The then CEO of the organisation took it upon herself to write to
Sreelakshmi, commending her on her work on the school's website.
The second award
that stood out from the rest was conferred upon Sreelakshmi on 5 February
2009-which also happened to be her eleventh birthday. This was the National
Child Award for Exceptional Achievement for the year 2008, given by the
Ministry of Women and Child Welfare in New Delhi. Receiving a national award at
the age of eleven is not something many can boast of, but Sreelakshmi certainly
deserved such an honour.
By this point she
had launched her own start-up, eDesign Technologies, a web-design company.
Sreelakshmi was proud of her efforts, and had big plans for eDesign. She was
well aware of the expectations people had. Starting a company would only
increase the pressure on her to live up to and exceed these expectations. She
was ready for the challenge.
However, she did
not intend to work full-time on web design immediately, and wished to first
focus on her studies. After completing her schooling, she pursued an
undergraduate degree in Business Management from a college in her hometown of
Kozhikode. She knew. she had a lot to learn. Technology is constantly changing;
what is popular today can become obsolete by the end of the year. In order to
maintain the quality of her work and to grow her venture, Sreelakshmi kept
studying new and developing technologies. She learnt animation search engine
optimisation, PHP, e-commerce, and user interface design.
Her dream is to
make eDesign a leading IT company. Instead of trying to secure foreign clients,
Sreelakshmi chose to start small and work her way up. She has created websites
for many organisations and firms. Her clients include the Bar Council of Kerala
and the Kozhikode District Association of the Deaf. At present, eDesign
Technologies offers website design, custom web development, online marketing
services, and even logo designing. In 2010, she launched State of Kerala, an
online encyclopaedia about Kerala.
In 2012,
Sreelakshmi gave a TED talk about her journey to becoming one of the worlds
youngest CEOs. She talked about her dream of becoming a world-class web
designer, and about the struggles of launching a start-up as a minor.
Click here to view TED-X talk: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-7YYJFWrql8
Over the years,
Sreelakshmi has been invited by several engineering and management colleges to
interact with their students. She has also spoken at functions organised by the
Confederation of Indian Industry (CII), Lions Club International, and Rotary
International The department store chain Shoppers Stop invited her to their
annual business event, where he addressed a gathering of more than a hundred
CROS
When we talk
about how age is just a number, we
often refer to how growing older does not mean you should give up on your dreams.
Sreelakshmi Suresh has turned this expression on its head and reminded the
world that being young does not mean you cannot dream big as well-‘Don't think
that something is impossible for children. We can achieve whatever elders can
do, if we have the will’. She firmly believes that ‘if you are confident that
you are competent and prepared to work hard, nothing is impossible’.
UNIT_1: SREELAKSHMI SURESH
Sreelakshmi Suresh is an inspirational life story of one of the youngest entrepreneurs of the world. When she was three years old, her parents Suresh Menon (lawyer) and Viju Suresh (teacher) bought a computer and taught her how to use it. Sreelakshmi used notepad to type letters and learn the English alphabet. She used MS- Paint to draw and color pictures. This is how she became more familiar with computer programs.
Her parents encouraged her to try out often something new and different. Her father showed her so many websites designed by young children and he believed that she will get benefit from the experience. She grew more curious and worked hard during the free time. Though her parents worried about her eyesight, they believed that she will achieve something new.
At the age of eight, she designed a complete website for her school. This website included the information about the admissions, curriculum, history of the school, faculty, students, and a section for children’s school reports and enquiries by parents.
This website designing acquired Sreelakshmi recognition across the world. During the next few years she received nearly 30 awards from different countries. Among them, the Golden Web Award helped her to get the membership in the American Webmasters Association. This is a group of web designers across the world. She was the youngest one among all the members. The CEO of the organization wrote to Sreelakshmi by appreciating her for her Web designing.
Another award, the Art space’s world web award of Excellence for 2006-07, helped her to achieve the National Child Award for Exceptional Achievement 2008 by Ministry of Women and Child Welfare in New Delhi. She received this national award on her eleventh birthday.
Apart from these two, she was also a recipient of the web masters Ink Award, the Global Internet Directories Gold Award etc., After this, she launched her own web designing company namely “e-Design Technologies”. Even though she was very young to own a business, she was ready to accept the challenge of fulfilling the expectations of people at web designing. After her schooling; she pursued Bachelor Degree in Business Management. Then she learnt Animation, Search Engine Optimization, PHP, E-Commerce, and User Interface Design.
She always tried to update herself the upcoming changes in the technology. Her dream is to make her e Design Technologies, a leading IT company. She gave preference to choose Indian clients. She created websites for Bar Council Kerala, Kozhikode District Association of the Deaf. In the year 2010, she launched “State of Kerala, an online Encyclopedia about Kerala”.
In the year 2012, she gave a TED talk about her dream of becoming a world class web designer and the struggles of launching a new company. Over the years she has been invited by several engineering and management colleges and addressed at so many functions. At a function, she addressed included more than a 100 CEOs
Conclusion: Age is just a number. It is not a bar to achieve anything. She firmly believes that if we are confident that we are competent and prepared to work hard, nothing is impossible.
Click here to read her interview:
https://guindytimes.com/articles/interview-with-sree-lakshmi-suresh
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