Mr. Ravi Attri was infected with polio fever when he was 2 years old. He grew up on a wheelchair, but his desires were to fly. After a certain age, when Ravi was legally eligible to apply for his driving licence, he appeared before the RTO and went through some difficult and tiring procedures, but finally had his licence in his hands. He did a ton of research and inquired a a lot of places, within the car manufacturing companies, but all he found was disappointment. After a lot of leg work, he finally found a local mechanic of an outside state who modified Ravi’s first car for him. The controls for the breaks and acceleration in one hand with an automatic transmission car. Ravi drove a car for the first time and his wings were wide enough to fly. He drove his first car with that specific hand control for years, although the controls were very hard to operate and were just an adjustment to the car. But Ravi was more than happy, as it was the one thing that had changed his life. He became more independent. It didn’t matter how it looked, how his car looked, as long as his purpose was fulfilled. Years later there came an upgradation in the market for hand controls, without any wait Ravi purchased a new car and got that new technology installed. It was better looking, but his experience with its performance was degraded, the braking system was incompetent. Still, he drove with the same system for more than two years. But he wasn’t an unaware consumer, he knew what he deserved and kept his yearn for it.
After the failure of research and of the availability of quality products in India, Ravi took things in his own hands and that was the time when an entrepreneur was born. From an idea on a paper to a production of a physical technology, from part by part to a whole assembly, step-by-step guiding to producing trained technicians, Ravi went all the way. However, very few knows the struggles he went through because of the limitations or the structure of the society where accessibility of persons with disability is still a question that’s unanswered. Nevertheless, with patience Ravi used to wait in his car outside a lot of workshops for hours to be addressed by the mechanics and to be heard about his ideas and what he wanted to make for his car. Everyone said they couldn’t do it, but at last Ravi found a mechanic denied at first, but somehow Ravi explained and convinced him, he said, “You don’t have to invent it, you just make the parts and follow my lead”. With a lot of guiding and after plenty of fails, he came up with this technology which is now worldwide famous. His blood, sweat and tears did pay off. With the will to have the best for himself, he made his driving life worth living. All of his grievances were now gone, and he was satisfied with his Hand Control. As the days passed and he showed it to people and majorly to his friends they demanded for the same.
Because Ravi had come up with the best looking and best performing technology for persons with disability. From one to ten and then ten to hundreds, he came into the market and made his name. First, Ravi took initiative for himself, then he helped a friend. But then he saw that there were so many people like him who were still deprived of the best they could have. He started this work and then the company was born, The Mobility Solutions. Ravi helped the community and the community helped him to gain confidence, to have a real passion for his live and a purpose to do something for the society. A major part of Disability studies “accessibility”, Ravi chooses his part of work. As Michael James Hoiles Oliver said, “We don’t need so called experts, but people from within the community to provide services for each other and to become a part of mainstreams”. Not Integration but inclusion is what he thrives for, not separation of community, but empowerment is what he aims for. This work broke all the chains of isolation for Ravi and he now travels all over India for his drive of Independence. His aim is to achieve accessibility all over India and to spread awareness of mobility among disabled community. Ravi promotes non-isolation for persons with disability by making their world accessible with top quality products. It wasn’t all smiles and rainbows after, Ravi had to struggle a lot in the process of government approval for his products, but eventually with hard work, determination and unyielding patience he acquired that too. But that is a story for another time. As for now, Ravi drives his car all over India with the safest and classiest Hand Control available in the country and likewise do his hundreds of customers.