Nature has preserved the usefulness of all the creatures it has created on this earth. It is the fault of us humans that we could not see their importance and started worshipping some creatures, fearing some, and some became the target of our contempt. At least in North India, donkeys were not looked upon with respect. Despite the fact that they were used a lot, mocking phrases were coined for them. But for Dhiren Solanki of Gujarat, the donkey is no less than a blessing. This creature has made him a millionaire at the age of just 22. Dhiren's success has proved that if you have a new idea, patience and the passion to move forward, then even a donkey can make you rich.
Born in Manund village of Patan district of Gujarat, Dhiren Solanki's dream was not much different from that of any lower middle class family. His father Arvindbhai Solanki wanted his son to study and become a teacher in a government school, so that the family could get some financial help. Dhiren understood the expectations of his family and father. He left no stone unturned. After completing his schooling from science stream, he passed all the exams of Primary Teacher Certificate (PTC), Central Teacher Eligibility Test (CTET) and Kendriya Vidyalaya Sangathan (KVS), but did not get any permanent appointment anywhere. He did other small jobs, but they were not helping the family financially.
In the year 2020, Dhiren also appeared in the teacher recruitment examinations held in neighboring states, but there was a long wait everywhere. After waiting for the results for about six months, his disappointment started deepening. The son's concern was also troubling the father. Obviously, the Gujarati passion to become a businessman arose. Dhiren's father read somewhere that donkey-rearing business also takes place in Kerala-Karnataka. There is not much information about the demand or use of donkey milk in the country, but it is in great demand in countries like Malaysia, China and Turkey. Arvindbhai Solanki told this to his son.
Dhiren was shocked by this idea. He gave up his dream of becoming a teacher and started gathering information about it online. Till now he did not even know what all uses this milk had. Here there is so much uproar over the price of buffalo and cow milk being sixty rupees a liter, then he was surprised to know that a liter of donkey milk costs thousands of rupees. Actually, its milk has a lot of disease resistant properties, so it is used in many medicines. It is no less than a panacea for newborns who are allergic to cow's milk. Then there is a huge demand for it for many kinds of beauty products too.
Dhiren did not have any practical training to start a 'donkey farm'. Only due to the courage and confidence of his father, he took the risk of starting his own donkey farm in the year 2022. For this, Dhiren took a loan of about 40 lakh rupees. With this amount, he bought 20 donkeys and got a 30 by 40 feet 'shed' built, where all these animals could be kept. Dhiren had thought that if he bought a donkey today, the sale of its milk would start from tomorrow. But, there was no demand for it in Gujarat and it could be sent abroad only in the form of powder.
In the first year, he incurred huge losses because he did not have the technology to preserve milk or convert it into powder. It took almost a year to tie up with companies doing this work and coordinate. He got his first order for 50 kg of powder. Generally, 16-17 liters of milk is used to prepare one kg of powder. Incidentally, by that time, he had stored 200 kg of powder. He got paid for it at the rate of Rs 63,000 per kg. The business worked out. Now, there was no need to look back. E-commerce had provided him with a huge range of customers.
Today he has about 40 Halari breed donkeys, from whose milk Dhiren is earning up to three lakh rupees a month. He has employed three-four people to take care of the cattle and he himself remains fully engaged along with his father. This journey of Dhiren can show the way to those thousands of youngsters who are wasting their precious time in cursing the system and the government. If Dhiren had kept thinking that the society would ridicule him for doing the business of donkey milk, then he would never have reached where he is today.
There is a need to change the attitude of considering self-employment as the last option, because it not only benefits you, but by extension you also benefit the society and the country. As a teacher, Dhiren would have surely enjoyed educating children, but he could not have employed four people. Today he is earning many times more than the average salary of a teacher. Whoever steps forward with a unique plan like Dhiren Solanki will get success.
Presentation: Chandrakant Singh
