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| Dr.J.Harindran Nair, 'Pankaja Kasthuri', Poovachal, Thiruvananthapuram |
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The young graduate of BAM, who passed out of Ayurveda College, Thiruvananthapuram in 1983, started an establishment 5 years later to produce medicines in a small way. His only capital was the Rs.30000 borrowed from the Agriculture Development Bank and the confidence in his venture. It is this organization, ‘Pankaja Kasthuri’, started by Dr.J.Harindran Nair, that has become a Rs.10 crore venture with branches even abroad.
From Parassala to Aluva, the doctor cum sales representative used to carry the medicines on a motorbike. Today, while looking back, Dr. Nair has no inhibition about recounting those days of struggle. However the business based on credit finally led to the collapse of the venture sooner than later.
It was then that he did a bigger gamble. Next year, after marriage to Asha, he pawned his wife’s jewellery to bring to the market ‘Pankaj Kasturi’ products. Starting with the Pankaj Kasturi Lehyam, the company slowly grew. By 1996, it had become a Public Limited Company. And today its annual turnover is Rs.10 crore.
Unlike many who join Ayurveda College, Harindran Nair had no ancestral lineage to bolster his liking for the subject. After graduation, he started a clinic in his native place Poovachal. 3 years later he worked in the Ayurveda Research Centre at Poojappura, Thiruvananthapuram for sometime. It was after this that he set bigger goals for himself.
Today the group brings out 24 products to the market. It has a 20-bed Pancha Karma Centre at Poovachal. Construction of its Ayurveda College at Killi, near Kattakkada, is nearing completion. It has a 20-acre cultivation of medicinal plants and a dairy farm of 300 cows.
He has been able to provide employment to 140 persons directly and to many others indirectly.
Courtesy: Sonichan P.Joseph, Sree, Malayala Manorama, May 19, 2002
Contributed by: Administrator
