Chittilappilly Kochouseph - The gift : how I gave away a kidney and got richer at heart

Kochouseph Chittilappilly is an industrialist, a philanthropist, a humanist and a bestselling author. He is the founder of V-Guard Industries Ltd and the popular amusement parks, Wonderla and Veega Land Developers Pvt Ltd.

Kochouseph was born in Kerala into a traditional agricultural family. He holds a Masters degree in Physics and began his career as a supervisor in an electronics company. He is the recipient of many awards for his exemplary contributions in business and philanthropy. He is happily married with two sons and two grandchildren.

Published by

Rupa Publications India Pvt. Ltd 2016

7/16, Ansari Road, Daryaganj

New Delhi 110002

Copyright Kochouseph Chittilappilly 2016

The views and opinions expressed in this book are the authors own and the facts are as reported by him/her which have been verified to the extent possible, and the publishers are not in any way liable for the same.

While every effort has been made to verify the authenticity of the information contained in this book, the publisher and the author are in no way liable for the use of the information contained in this book.

All rights reserved.

No part of this publication may be reproduced, transmitted, or stored in a retrieval system, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior permission of the publisher.

ISBN:

First impression 2016

10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

The moral right of the author has been asserted.

This book is sold subject to the condition that it shall not, by way of trade or otherwise, be lent, resold, hired out, or otherwise circulated, without the publishers prior consent, in any form of binding or cover other than that in which it is published.

Contents

Foreword

I met Kochouseph Chittilappilly (KC) at an event organized by the Kerala Management Association in Cochin where I was invited to speak on my latest book, The Elephant Catchers, that dwelt on the subject of building scale in enterprise. The disarmingly unassuming KC was introduced to me as the legendary but reclusive founder of V-Guard, who is also the humanitarian who has given a kidney away to someone he doesnt know!

The word V-Guard instantly rang a bell.

In the India of pre-economic liberalization days of the 1990s, there were very few companies that were the bellwethers of quality. V-Guard was one such company. In a fiercely competitive, global economy, quality is imperative. It is a term dictated by the consumer. However in the protected economy of yore, if you knew how to manage the system, it was a mere option. With that backdrop, V-Guard became more than just a voltage stabilizer. Its products did not ever fail. Yet no one knew about the man behind it. Even as the company, first started in 1977 with a loan of 100,000 and just two other workers, has today become a publicly listed 1750 crore enterprise, very few know who KC is. In our world, success of his magnitude brings both narcissism and megalomania, not desire for personal obscurity and a desire to give everything away.

When I had met KC, I somewhat knew about the philanthropic work he did but I was not aware that he had donated a kidney to a stranger. At the event, we shook hands and I told him how impressed I was with V-Guard as a fellow entrepreneur and a business writer. However I did make references about the kidney he had donated. I needed time to absorb the information, I did not want to be superficial about it. After the event, we went our own ways.

Several days later, I received a mail from him. He asked me if I would read a manuscript on his story about why and how he gave a kidney away. In the normal course of things, I decline requests for reading manuscripts because I cannot do justice to them, given my own commitments at work and the pressure of my own writing. However given the backdrop of the meeting, my admiration for his enterprise and the very unusual subject at hand, I said I would. When the soft copy of the book arrived, I read the first page and just could not keep it down. I was spellbound with many things; the story itself and more importantly, the very subject of cadaver donation about which both society and the medical community remains in vast ignorance.

For a country of 1.3 billion and more, it is not an esoteric subject. It could mean the difference between life and death for someone you know personally. After reading the book, the first thought that came to my mind was that it must spread far and wide, that it must be read by people from all walks of life about a little known subject of this magnitude. I asked KC to get a professional editor for the book and look for a good publisher in whose hands the message of the book would go far and wide. I am delighted that it is happening today.

The Gift is a book on humanity. It is a book that restores faith in the power of good at a time when indiscriminate greed and violence, both in thought and deed, has overtaken people and few have the time to pause and reflect. The Gift is also a book on what business leadership should be all about in a country like India. Business leaders are social leaders as well. They must see the purpose of business and the power of wealth as turners of the wheel of wellbeing for all people. KC is a shining example of that.

I am delighted that The Gift is in your hands right at this moment, and I hope you will treasure its message in your heart, that you would emulate KCs example in your own way, and make an impact on people you do not know and may never meet in your life!

Subroto Bagchi

28 June 2015

Chapter 1

The Beginning

I remember the big white lights. I remember eight or nine men and women standing around me dressed in green cloaks. Their faces were covered with surgical masks. I could only see their eyes peering down at me. Then it all started to get blurry. While slipping away, I began to wonder why I was there.

What had brought me to that surgical table under those bright lights?

It had all started with a thought that had floated into my mind about eight months ago. One tiny thought. In the intervening months, it had grown and now I lay naked under a green cloak, surrounded by strangers wearing masks and uniforms. I began slipping, drifting to a white phantom land under the blinding light. I wondered how big the knife was going to be. I thought of my beloved wife Sheela.

I mumbled to myself, Be calm, be calm, everythings going to be fine.

In life, we do not know how it will all end. We can only hope for the best. The adventure that brought me to this surgery table, started off as a casual conversation in June 2010. Before I recount that conversation, let me tell you a little bit about myself and my family.

I was born in a sleepy village called Parappur situated about sixteen kilometres away from Thrissur, a temple town in Kerala. To many of those in Mumbai and New Delhi, Kerala itself is a sleepy place. Consider then a small village tucked far away from the hustle and bustle of the big towns in Kerala. In my mind, I can still see the green fields. At dawn, we walked barefoot on the soft green meadows through the misty whiteness, happy and contented. Fields of paddy stretched all around us. Our days began with the sounds of the quacking of ducks and the crowing of roosters. Tamarinds and mangoes and tender green banana plantains grew everywhere.