In a small village in Tamil Nadu, a young boy who couldn't afford textbooks did the impossible, he scored a perfect 200 out of 200 in his 12th-class exams. Decades later, that same boy, Dr. A. Velumani, would build a company, Thyrocare, worth over Rs 5,000 crore. His journey is not just a rags-to-riches story, it's a masterclass in transforming hardship into an unbeatable advantage.
Dr. Velumani often says that poverty presents you with two choices: to see it as a curse or to treat it as an opportunity. He chose the latter. "What is built in a village is not found in cities," he reflects. The constant problem-solving required to survive, caring for family and managing with nothing became his "MBA." There were no theories, only relentless, practical lessons.
His father, once middle-class, fell into poverty after being cheated out of his land. But his mother, a woman of fierce independence, became the pillar of their family. With two buffaloes and the 10 rupees she earned daily from selling milk, she educated all five of her children. She never borrowed a single rupee, teaching Velumani his first lesson in financial discipline and dignity.
After earning a science degree, he faced a wall of rejection. In industrial Coimbatore, he failed 50 job interviews. The reason? A lack of experience. The irony wasn't lost on him. "It's like asking a young man at his marriage meeting, 'How many children do you already have?'" This frustration birthed a vow, he would one day create a company that hired only freshers.
A government job at BARC in Mumbai finally offered stability. In a twist of fate, he was once stumped in an interview by a question about the thyroid gland because he had never studied biology. Yet, within a decade, he held a PhD in Biochemistry, specialising in the thyroid, and would go on to run the world's largest thyroid testing laboratory.
But comfort, he realised, is a dangerous zone. In 1995, with Rs 2 lakh in savings and a wife with a secure job at SBI, he took a leap that defied convention. He resigned from his government job, telling his wife only that night. Her response was as formidable as his resolve: "If you won't go to the office tomorrow, then I also won't." Her faith was his foundation.
He started Thyrocare with a powerful insight. He saw that imported medical reagents cost Rs 50, but if made locally, they could cost just Rs 3. He combined this cost-efficient model with the frugality he learned from his mother, building a business without taking a single loan or external investment.
When the COVID-19 pandemic sent his business soaring, he made another calculated move, he decided to step down at the peak of his success, ensuring he would be remembered with respect.
Dr. Velumani’s life is a testament to a powerful principle: "Life gives you two options: what is easy to do, and what is right to do." He always chose the difficult right, walking a path few dare to tread, and in doing so, built an empire from the greatest teacher of all, adversity.
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