"It was a wonderful experience interacting with you and appreciate the way you have planned and executed the whole publication process within the agreed timelines.”
Subrat SaurabhAuthor of Kuch Woh Pal
When life deals you an unkind cut, how you respond to it offers a window to the character you possess.
Blindness at birth can be particularly debilitating because you are deprived of self-dependency. However, if you learn to not just take the disability in your stride but also use it as a motivation to scale the ladder of life, then sky is the limit. As GK Mahantesh has amply illustrated.
Presented with the easier option of falling back on family support and coasting through life, Mahantesh opted for the more arduous path of making a name for himself and offering inspiration as well as financial independence to thousands of others. Fusing his love for cricket with an innate desire to look beyond himself, he has carved a niche both through his illustrious association with blind cricket and the Samarthanam Trust.
Eye Opener charts Mahantesh’s fascinating, undulating journey from the outpost of Belagavi to the hustle and bustle of constant international travel, reiterating that blindness, or any disability, is no deterrent if you have will, passion, enterprise and industry.
Mahantesh G Kivadasannavar, Satish Viswanathan
When veteran cricket journalist and co-author Satish Viswanathan got down to send a mail to
Mahantesh GK to set up their initial meeting about this autobiography, the first thought that hit was – Blind as he is, how will he read the mail?
One look at his business card to check his email id revealed Mahantesh - the persona. President, World Blind Cricket and President, Cricket Association for the Blind in India screamed one side of the card, but it was the email id that was telling. It simply read: seeyou@blindcricket.in!!
Cricket is one part of Mahantesh’s life; his bigger calling is the Samarthanam Trust for the Disabled that he co-founded in 1997, through which he has touched and empowered thousands. With his educational qualifications (achieved despite his blindness), connections and the backing of his family, he could have got himself a good corporate or government job. But he didn’t do anything of that sort, for it hit him that nothing could give a person greater sense of purpose than giving back –not just to the people who raised him, but back to a society which nurtured and fostered him.
As the Founder Managing Trustee of Samarthanam, Mahantesh has earned due recognition for his dedication towards social service rather than pity for his condition.
