BACKING QATAR: Rooting for the FIFA 2022 bid.
By Aney Mathew
Tell us something about yourself:
I am K M Varghese — ‘Kuriakose’ to friends. I consider myself a simple person with a positive outlook. To me, it is important to live by good principles, ethics and morals. I want to live life to the fullest; I feel there’s so much that needs to be done in this world within the short span of human life and I find myself juggling telecom engineering, business, managing companies as well as doing social, community and charity work. Besides this, I’m also involved in story writing, producing movies and TV serials.
You have been very active in serving the Indian community. What do you consider some of your accomplishments?
I’ve had the opportunity to serve the Indian community in several ways, one of which was the initiative to move the Indian Cultural Centre (ICC) to its current spacious premises, overseeing its growth and expansion. Establishing an office for the Indian Business Professional Network (IBPN) and trying to convert this into a nodal office for businesspeople in India and Qatar was another venture.
I was also part of the founding group that launched the Kerala Engineer’s forum – the largest professional body in Qatar. These achievements were made possible only because of the cooperation of like-minded people.
You’ve held several important positions in the Indian social scene; tell us about a few…
I’ve served in several capacities, including as President of the Indian Cultural Centre, the Indian Business and Professional Network and the Indian Club.
What are some of your achievements at work?
Being able to develop a company from scratch and setting it up into a multi-discipline, multi-technology, and multi-division group has been very satisfying. Through this venture, I’ve been able to provide jobs to hundreds of people and support numerous families around the world.
Tell us about your interest in story writing…
Story writing is a passion and some of my stories have won prizes. I observe people and events around me and this provides me with the “threads” for my stories. Writing requires solitude and time, as I get very passionate and emotional when I create, but my current hectic schedule leaves me with hardly any time for story writing these days.
I’m currently working on making a film, based on a story of mine that won the award for a competition that was judged by M Mukundan — a master storyteller of Malayalam literature.
Tell us about your foray into movies and TV serials
This is another area of interest. Based on pure passion for arts and storytelling, some of my friends and I produced a TV serial and a movie. The serial titled Daya (mercy), won the state award for the Best Serial of the Year, along with 22 other state awards. It was a trailblazer as it discussed the relevance of euthanasia (mercy killing) on the Malayalam silver screen and entertainment media for the first time
The commercial movie titled Kudumbashree Travels was a humorous one with a lead cast. Plans are on for more productions.
What is your dream destination?
Regardless of the many places I’ve visited, my village at Niranam, Tiruvalla in Kerala, is the place I crave to go back to. I believe there’s no place as wonderful as the one where we spent our childhood. An invisible thread of your identity ties your umbilical cord to that place, space and even time, defining the very relevance of your existence.
In the place of your cherished childhood memories, everything and everybody is relevant as they’ve been part of your life; it’s like a movie reel unravelling in front of you. Besides this, the air around you seems different — the sound of birds chirping, the smell, the melody of a song, even the crimson horizon appears different; it’s a matchless experience.
What is it that motivates you?
While the satisfaction from a successfully completed task does motivate me, it is the challenge posed by the failure of a task — that too, if it’s due to me — that drives me crazy and motivates me the most.
What scares you?
The increasing intolerance of people who fight each other in the name of caste, politics or religion.
What was the scariest moment of your life?
I’ve experienced a few flight scares. However, the one I would like to forget is when the plane flew into a sandstorm — during a short flight from Doha to Dubai.
The flight path was smooth and we were all set to land; the Dubai skyscrapers were in sight and only a few minutes were left for touchdown. All of a sudden, it turned pitch black both inside and out, and the aircraft began jerking and shaking wildly. It seemed like things were completely out of control. It felt like we were trapped inside a huge black hole! There were lots of screaming, crying out, shouting and praying aloud as people panicked. A few seats away, a woman began throwing up as the whole atmosphere turned scarier than a Hitchcock film. It looked like the pilot had lost control and everything was coming to an end. Fortunately, the pilot gained control and he managed one of the steepest climbs I’ve ever seen. The aircraft returned to Doha instead of trying to land in Dubai. However, since I had an urgent business meeting, I had to fly straight back to Dubai within a couple of hours!
Your attitude to life?
There are three parties who make you who you are today: your parents who laid the foundation; you and your efforts and finally, all the direct and indirect third party influences, which include your immediate family members and the society around you.
You need to be thankful to all of them and repay them before it is too late.
For instance, tell your parents you love them — let them know and feel that; look after them during their old age. Remember, when you were unable to walk, talk or feed yourself, they looked after you. You need to return that love, when they need you.
Next, you need to look after yourself — let your body, mind and soul indulge in whatever it finds relaxation and solace in. Similarly, take care of your family, wife and children — they are the ones who sacrificed the most for you, especially with their quiet support as you chased and conquered your dreams one by one.
Finally, never forget to repay society in the form of social work, for the benefits you’ve always received from it.
