Though from a humble beginning, after graduation in Pharmacy in 1985, Suresh Kamath rose through the ranks by sheer hardwork and determination. Now he feels “why not think about entrepreneurship and do something back to the society. As these thoughts are lingering over my mind last couple of years which can shape up in next few years. This could be post retirement assignment. However, I feel contended in whatever achievement happened till date,” adds Mr Kamath. After office hours, he spends time with TV and family apart from occasional parties with friends.
His biggest inspirational source is his grandfather who was an accountant at Cochin in an UK-based shipping company PATVOLK from 1945 to 1969. He remembers that his grandfather was a perfectionist and he guided Suresh on various issues till he passed away in 1976. This perfectionist attitude has encrypted in Suresh Kamath too but believes that “in today’s world, we need to balance the perfection and imperfection, otherwise it may affect health of the self. But this nature helped in my professional career.”
He remembers moving in an imported car (Austin) owned by his grandfather during his early school days till 1976, then came the downturn to travel by cycle rickshaw, then to bicycle due to various reasons. “I always make my kids remember about this to keep them informed that there are always ups and downs in a life cycle and one should be mentally prepared,” added Mr Kamath.
In the past, all parents or grandparents were keen to see their sons and daughters as an engineer or a doctor. “I also entangled with these type of wishes. But my or family’s bad luck, I missed MBBS bus by 6 marks , BDS seat by 2 marks and topped in B Pharm rank list which probably was destined. Today I never regret the destiny. But my dad refused to finance me this course just because he felt that I will be become a compounder in a clinic or pharmacy after doing graduation. This gave me a challenge to take a loan from Syndicate Bank for the entire course including hostel accommodation and dedicated myself for the course. I was the 2nd topper in Kerala University when passed out in 1985,” Suresh Kamath spelled
out proudly.
Suresh dreads to recall an incident which happened during a family holiday to Bangkok in 2001 where they got blocked in a massive traffic jam during their travel from hotel to the airport. To make it on time the family got out of taxi and took three bike taxies; one for Suresh Kamath and his then 7 years old daughter, other for his son and third for his wife along with their luggage.
“Language is a major problem in Thailand. Though drivers with poor English knowledge, agreed to drop us on time before the reporting time, we got separated in different lanes for next 25 minutes, finally to reach airport well on time. For these 25 minutes we felt that our family got separated for ever. This is not forgettable in our life added Mr Kamath.
He recalls that he touched the Goan soil way back in 1991 when he landed in Mardol by default when he had to attend an interview at German Remedies Limited in Kundaim Industrial Estate. This year he will be completing 25 years in Goa which gave him a steady growth curve in his personal as well as professional life. Suresh Kamath’s wife Indu works as Senior Audit Officer in the Office of Accountant General of Goa, Son Sreenu is an IT Engineer working in Goa, and daughter Kiran is pursuing final year graduation
in Pharmacy.
