Anand Mahindra lives up to his commitment to educate teen who built 'Iron Man' suit from scrap

Tribune Web Desk

Chandigarh, November 17

To support even one person’s dream is to build a world where people can believe in their dreams. Anand Mahindra, the Chairman of Mahindra Group, is one such person who believes in nurturing talent.

In September this year, he had made a promise to a teenager in Imphal and today, he has lived up to his word. Mahindra was left impressed by Prem who had built an Iron Man suit from scrap. The business tycoon had promised that his foundation would support the education of Prem and his siblings.

Last night, on Twitter, Anand shared with 8.5 million followers that Prem had arrived at the Mahindra University in Hyderabad to study engineering. He wrote, "Remember Prem, our young Indian Ironman from Imphal? We promised to help him get the engineering education he wanted and I'm delighted to share that he has arrived at @MahindraUni in Hyderabad.”

Expressing his gratitude to the Indigo airline for Prem’s journey, he wrote, “Thank you Indigo for taking such good care of him…”

It was on September 30 that Mahindra shared Prem’s story on Twitter. Impressed at Prem’s work, Anand shared a video that showed the teenager wearing an iron arm that was similar to the one that Tony Stark wears in the Marvel movies.

Keen to support Prem’s ‘obvious talent’, Anand wrote, “I had tweeted about Prem, the young man from Imphal who used scrap material to build an ‘Iron Man’ suit. I was keen to support his obvious talent & I’m grateful to our Auto sector partners, Shivz Autotech in Imphal for visiting Prem & his family to understand his desires. (1/3).”

Next we knew, Prem had visitors from Mahindra team. “I am awestruck and inspired by Prem's ambition & skills that have flowered despite -- not because of -- his circumstances. Many of us from privileged backgrounds never appreciated enough the resources we were given. But Prem uses scrap material & basic tools to shape his creations (2/3)”

Anand also shared pictures of his team who went to the teen’s home town Heirok to understand the teen’s aspirations and how he can be helped. His top officials, Anand said, would mentor Prem. “Our Group’s Chief Design Officer, @BosePratap is equally inspired by Prem & will be connecting with Prem to mentor his career. @SheetalMehta the head of Mahindra Foundation will facilitate the continuing education of Prem and his siblings… (3/3).”

It was Jaaved Jaaferi who had shared Prem’s video with Mahindra. This story was also noticed by Congress’s Jairam Ramesh who had also visited Prem and promised him full support.