My Tributes to Two Great Men

About a month ago, I read in the newspaper, Mr. N R Narayana Murthy suggesting that the country should honour Sri. Verghese Kurien, the father of White Revolution, with Bharat Ranta.  Though I have spent two years in Ahmedabad, very close to Anand, I never got a chance to meet Kurien.  But I heard a lot about the miracle called 'Anand', which led the growth of co-operative movement in India.  So, I immediately ordered a copy of Kurien's autobiography - 'I Too Had A Dream'.  As I was reading the book, the news of Kurien's death appeared in the media.  I finished reading the book in one sitting; and let me tell you what an experience it was!  Kurien, indeed, did what many others could not.  The book narrates, how an initially reluctant Kurien, transformed the lives of millions of farmers.  It narrates the tale of creating a great brand 'Amul'; the strategies that he devised to fight the mighty MNCs like Nestle; his constant endeavours to keep the politicians and bureaucrats away from taking over the reins of successful co-operatives; and the story behind the Institute of Rural Management (IRMA).  He took the country from a milk deficient nation to the largest producer of milk; and in the process, provided economic freedom to the millions of farmers.  His life and work are not just another example of creation of a great brand; but it is far more, as it resulted in the transformation of the socio-economic fabric of thousands of villages.  He was a no-nonsense man and a hard task master, who knew how to get what he wanted.  And all along he kept saying that he was the 'employee' of the farmers; which he truly was!


Two weeks ago, I was saddened to read the news of Prof. N S Ramaswamy's death.  Prof. N S Ramaswamy was the founder director of IIM Bangalore.  But to describe him that way would be an understatement, as the directorship of IIMB was only one facet of this multifaceted personality.  Unlike Kurien, I had the opportunity of interacting with Prof. Ramaswamy at various occasions.  I met him first in 1999, when he visited my institute to address the students.  I was amazed by his ability to quote from vedic literature to explain the concepts of management.  He was a scholar par excellence, who, at a moments notice, could speak at length on any issue.  Coated with humour, he would enthrall the audience for the whole day and they would remain in rapt attention.  He was the founder of Indian Heritage Academy and the Centre for Action Research and Technology for Man Animal and Nature (CARTMAN), which made him popularly known as Cartman Ramaswamy.  He did extensive research to improve and modernise the slaughter houses and bullock carts.  He was an academician, vedic scholar, environmentalist, animal-lover, orator and much more, bundled into one individual.  He often used to make the participants of his programmes repeat the following words - 'the time to be happy is now; the place to be happy is here and the way to be happy is by making others happy'.

I was filled with the thoughts of these two men, when I found so many similarities: they both lived almost during the same time (Kurien - 1921-2012 & Ramaswamy - 1926-2012);  Kurien was awarded Padma Vibhushan and Ramaswamy, Padma Bhushan; while one created a whole industry around cattle and its products, the other designed better bullock-carts and slaughter houses; both were institution builders (IRMA & IIMB); both were Keralites, whose area of activity was outside Kerala.  Among all these similarities, I could find a marked difference, while Kurien was a strong atheist, Ramaswamy was highly religious!

I dedicate my first post in Reflections to the memory of these two great men.