The Air Himalaya’s chartered flight and its founder Budhi Prakash Thakur in the inset. (Source: airhimalayas.com)

Indians never fail to surprise themselves and the world with their achievements. Time and again, people have shown that one doesn’t need to be born with a silver spoon to become successful. Here is another such story of Budhi Prakash Thakur, a poor farmer’s son, who struggled his way out of poverty and became a successful entrepreneur, starting his own airline company in the Himalayas.

Born in a very poor family in village Khakhnal near Manali, Thakur’s family members had to struggle to make the ends meet. He completed his early education in government schools near. Later, Thakur finished his secondary education from DAV Sr. Sec. School, Chandigarh and went to Punjab University for graduation, but quit in the second year to start a homestay in his village.

Thakur had started working at a very early age to lend his support to family. As a teenager, Thakur helped his father to start the business of growing apples. This eased the family’s money woes, according to The Better India (TBI).

TBI says that Thakur and his father built a five-room homestay with their farming income for tourists seeking cheap accommodation near Manali. Within six years, the home stay became the popular Sarthak Resorts and today it has 65 rooms.

In 2014, Thakur embarked on something beyond imagination. He started Air Himalayas, even as he had no experience in the sector and the investment required for the business was huge.

The company started operating chartered flights on Chandigarh-Kullu route. “What takes seven hours by road, now just takes 40 minutes by air,” Thakur told TBI. The company runs a nine-seater flight and charges around Rs 6000 per person.

In the next two years, the flight business went through several ups and down, but Thakur with his own “budhi” (wisdom) has managed to keep the flight in air and true to his dream of bringing more tourists to Manali.