Research & Publications
Research & Publications
The Utterly Butterly Man
'Again and again in history, some special people in the crowd wake up. They have no ground in the crowd and they emerge accordingly to much broader laws; they carry strange customs with them, and demand room for bold actions. The future ruthlessly speaks through them. They save the world.'
-(Rainer Maria Rilke)
Perhaps there is no better way to describe a man with such an iconic personality. To turn a barren land into a land overflowing with milk, to empower millions of farmers across the country to form a co-operative with an annual turnover of over 13,000 crores, to turn an ordinary farmer into the owner of the biggest co-operative... Dr. Kurien had all those qualities and more. This was the man who gave us the 'Taste of India'
His entry into the dairy sector was accidental and not very pleasant. He was forced to study dairy technology as the Government of India would only allow scholarships for the discipline. Yet he managed to study metallurgical and nuclear engineering at the Michigan State University. Later on he was sent to New Zealand for training on dairy technology. Ironically enough, the man who sold milk to billions of people regularly across the globe himself disliked drinking milk being lactose intolerant.
Dr. Kurien was born on 26th November, 1921 to a Syrian Christian family in Kozhikode, Kerala. But this Keralite developed a new identity, much to his dislike initially, with a dusty, sleepy city, Anand, on 13th May, 1949, when he was sent by the Government of India to work at a creamery in Kheda. Being a beef-eating Christian who did not know Gujarati and a bachelor to boot, no one was ready to keep him as a paying guest. He was staying in a garage, which is now part of the Amul museum. Not happy with his job he would send out letters demanding his own resignation. Whenever he got bored he would make an exit to Bombay (now Mumbai).
Finally, when his resignation was approved and he was about to leave Anand, Tribhubhandas Patel, the man who brought the farmers together to start the co-operative movement stopped him. "Don't go Kurien, Anand needs you", that's what he said. These were the words that later changed the course of history. They were - in a way - responsible for a billion-litre idea popularly known as 'Operation Flood'.
Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru who visited Anand to inaugurate the Amul plant, embraced him. Dr. Kurien, together with a dairy technologist, HM Dallaya, made history by creating milk powder from buffalo milk. Amul started weaving its success story and India, from being a milk importing nation, surpassed USA to become the largest producer of milk in the world. The success of Amul was so intriguing that the then Prime Minister Lal Bahadur Shastri spent one night at a village to understand the recipe of its success. Later on, at his request, Dr Kurien set up the National Dairy Development Board in 1965 to replicate its success across the country.
Dr Kurien was of the view that professionals should come forward to lead and to work for rural India before they started looking for greener pastures. He was on the board of IIM, Ahmedabad when he once tried to make students understand the need to fill the gap and work for rural India. A fellow board member, who was puffing away at a cigar, quipped whether he wanted students to milk cows. Dr Kurien, who was known for his sense of humour, replied that they should continue smoking cigars while "we milked the cows". To address this gap he set up the Institute of Rural Management, Anand in 1979 to train professionals to work for the rural sector. He once said, 'Students of IRMA should lead. Of course, when you lead you have to walk with others. You cannot lead unless you work with others.' Under his guidance this institute gained momentum to become one of the country's best management institutes, of course the best in its league. This is probably the only management institute with chimes present in the campus. Dr. Kurien firmly believed in the significance of bells at two places- religious and educational.
'"Co-operatives was an act of faith for me, it continues to be so. As I see it, faith is belief without reason. For those who believe no explanation is necessary, for those who don't no explanation is possible. My unfinished dream will only be accomplished when the farmers of India have a level playing field to compete with other forms of business. People may call me cold blooded, but I am very firm in setting precedence...." were his words. Dr Kurien was a bitter critic of liberalisation and globalisation as he felt that it would be unfair for Indian companies to compete with multinationals. However, that did not mean that he was afraid of competition. Once when Nestle suggested to him that they work together he replied that they were already working together and they could only meet at competition. Such was the confidence of the man. In 2006 he had had to quit the post of chairman of GCMMF. He hinted at a political conspiracy coupled embroiled with former friends turning foes, which led him to take such a decision.
He was a man 'of the farmer, for the farmer, by the farmer.' He would say, "We must build on the resources represented by our young professionals and by our nation's farmers, without their involvement we cannot succeed, with their involvement we cannot fail."
The success story of the co-operative movement attracted Shyam Benegal and he was eager to make a film on it but lacked the money for it. Approximately 10 lakhs were required to make the film at the time. When Dr Kurien came to know he collected Rs 2 from half a million farmers and helped him to make the film. The film Manthan was first made in Gujarati. Later on its success encouraged Benegal to release it nationwide in Hindi. This was probably the first time that farmers were producers of a movie and people were eager to watch it as they themselves were its producers.
During his lifetime Dr Kurien had been showered with many accolades- Padma Bibhushan, the Ramón Magsaysay award, and the World Food Prize to name a few. Yet there are people like N.R.Narayanmurthy who aver that no one deserved the Bharat Ratna more than Dr Kurien. He had 17 honorary doctorates to his name.
On 9th September, 2012 the milkman of India left us. But he remains an immortal flame burning in the hearts of millions and a source of inspiration for generations to come. He once said, "The journey I began in Anand in 1949 still continues. I believe it will continue until we succeed, until India's farmers succeed.' And this will echo in our minds forever.
Mero gaam Katha Pareey
Jahaan dudh ki nadiya baahe
Jahaan koyal kooh kooh gaye
Mahre ghar angna na bhulo na