Verghese Kurien - I Too Had a Dream

Born in Calicut, Kerala, Dr Verghese Kurien graduated in science and engineering from Madras University and Michigan State University, USA, respectively.

He began his career in dairying at the governments creamery in Anand, Gujarat, later joining the Kaira District Cooperative Milk Producers Union Limited (now Amul). As Chairman of the National Dairy Development Board, he implemented Operation Flood.

He has received countless awards, including the Ramon Magsaysay Award (1963), Wateler Peace Prize (1986), World Food Prize (1989), Padma Shri (1965), Padma Bhushan (1966) and Padma Vibhushan (1999).

Dr Kurien is currently Chairman of the Institute of Rural Management, Anand, Chairman of the Gujarat Cooperative Milk Marketing Federation and Chairman of the National Cooperative Dairy Federation of India.

Gouri Salvi is a Mumbai-based freelance journalist. She has worked with Onlooker and Sunday magazines and with the Womens Feature Service . She has written on development and gender issues, has co-edited Beijing! a book on the UNs Fourth World Conference on Women, and edited Development Retold: Voices From the Field , a book on the Indian Cooperative Union.

OTHER LOTUS TITLES:

VER GHESE KURIEN

AS TOLD TO GOURI SALVI

Lotus Collection

Verghese Kurien, 2005

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted, in any form or by any means, without the prior permission of the publisher.

Cover design : Arati Subramanyam
Layout design : Narendra Shahi

Cover picture : Gopashtami Pichhavai, Cotton, 275 cm x 183 cm ( courtesy: Amr Vastra Kosh Trust, New Delhi)

ISBN: 978-81-7436-407-4
Rs. 295

Typeset in Photina MT by Roli Books Pvt. Ltd. and
printed at Syndicate Binders, Noida

Death closes all: but something ere the end,
Some work of noble note, may yet be done.

Come, my friends,
Tis not too late to seek a newer world.
Push off, and sitting well in order smite
The sounding furrows; for my purpose holds
To sail beyond the sunset, and the baths
Of all the western stars, until I die.

Tho' much is taken, much abides; and tho'
We are not now that strength which in old days
Moved earth and heaven, that which we are, we are;
One equal temper of heroic hearts,
Made weak by time and fate, but strong in will
To strive, to seek, to find, and not to yield.

Ulysses

Alfred Tennyson

Contents

Foreword

I NDIA HAS BEEN IMMENSELY FORTUNATE TO HAVE IN ITS MIDST A SELFLESS , committed and self-effacing nationalist like Dr Verghese Kurien, who has been able to dedicate his working life to improving the quality of life and health of millions of citizens of the poorest segment of Indias population and transforming them into productive members of society.

This memoir allows us a fascinating view of the challenges, achievements and frustrations of Dr Kuriens full and colourful life. Dr Kurien was never one to mince words. You get what you see, and you know where you stand with him. It is so in his memoirs too. He has recounted instances as they were and he has not cloaked his feelings with niceties relating to certain people; at the same time he has been generous with his praise for others where he felt it necessary. In doing so, his memoirs reflect a true sense of events as Dr Kurien saw them throughout his life.

All of us should be proud of the achievements of Dr Kurien. A true visionary, he built a series of institutions which made India the worlds largest milk producer, developed a logistic chain to produce and deliver hygienic and nutritious milk to millions and created the worlds largest food marketing business and the countrys largest food brand (Amul). He enabled India to nearly double its per capita milk availability and made Indias dairy industry the largest rural employment provider. The cooperatives he created have also become powerful agents of social change in empowering women and in embedding democracy at the grass-roots level in the country.

His memoirs reveal the experiences and inner feelings of a great nationalist who has made an enormous contribution to the development of rural India and who will leave his mark long into the future. The book should provide inspiration to many: that they should do something for their country. Dr Kuriens involvement with dairy engineering was a twist of fate. He would normally have pursued a career in science or engineering. What he, therefore, did for the dairy industry in India is truly amazing. One cannot help but wonder what India would be today if we had a thousand Dr Kuriens with this type of vision and with similar commitment, dedication and national spirit.