‘A world of electronics for him’

Technofreak! This one word would better summarize P Srikanth’s
(Vellore Online Systems (P) Ltd) character.

His world is only electronics, chips and circuits. He spends
more than 20 percent of his earnings on electronic books and materials. He works
24X7 X 365 on electronic gadgets. At the age of 13, Srikanth started to assemble
antenna and boosters. Later, he built tape recorders and television sets. Today,
he has developed many innovative IT solutions and one accolades for it. A native
of Chennai, Srikanth moved to Vellore at a very early age as his father got
transferred there. "I was born in 1969 and was just six months old when we
relocated to Vellore. Then, most of my life happened in Vellore," said
Srikanth, Director, Vellore Online Systems Pvt Ltd.

Srikanth is one of the three siblings born to VM
Purushothaman and Malarkodi. "My father worked with Treasury Department
(Tamil Nadu government) in various capacities, before retiring as an officer. He
wanted me to be a government employee but I took my own path towards a career.
Today everyone in my family is happy with what I am," he remarked.

Srikanth’s elder brother, Prabhakaran is a distributor for
mobile phones in Vellore, while his sister got settled in Vellore itself.
"Those early days are still afresh in my memory where we all go to school
together. I did my primary schooling in Voorhees Preparatory School and later
joined Krishnaswamy Higher Secondary School where I studied upto 12th Standard.
During school days, I was a well-known student for my achievements in
electronics. I built many solutions and even made money for my pocket," he
narrated.

Fiddling with electronic gadgets, Srikanth spent most of his
free time in learning new things in electronics. " I never involved myself
in any other activities and I have a huge collection of electronic books and
materials at home equivalent to a good library. I have all Cisco books," he
quipped.

While narrating the most unforgettable incident in life,
Srikanth told, "During 7th standard summer holidays, I was playing with my
friends in the open ground in front of my house. Running at a great speed, I
dashed on the cycle with cycle bell steel getting into my forehead. Blood gushed
out heavily and immediately I fell unconscious. Still, I have a big scar on my
forehead," said Srikanth. Srikanth was a bright student throughout his
studies. He did his BE in Electronics and Communication in Vellore Engineering
College. After finishing graduation he opted to work instead of doing higher
studies. He started his own business after doing a hardware course in IT. His
knowledge and talent made his own employer to join him as a partner in business.
Today, Vellore Online Systems is a leading name in the industry providing many
innovative solutions. " I work all the days in a week and spend at least 3
hours in a day on Internet reading more new technologies. We have developed a
web-based paging solution, a private network, for CMC Hospital, Vellore. Also,
our company has won an award for selling highest number of servers in South
India," he claimed.

On the personal front, Srikanth got married to Gayathri in
1998 and he has two kids —Anush Kumar who is 4 years old and Haripriya, just
2-year old. "I don’t go out (travel) much except for once in a year. I
like Ooty and Coimbatore," he added.

S Gopikrishna