By George Kannanthanam
Bengaluru: It is rare to have someone strong in faith, great leadership abilities, have lot of money and still be a great human being. George Muthoot was one such. Sadly he is no more since March 5.
My last meeting with George Muthoot in his Delhi office of the Muthoot Group of Institutions lasted about four hours. I just went for a casual meeting. But he shared about his life of faith, his experience of leadership in the Church and shared about this success stories. I was surprised that someone of his stature was spending time with someone much younger and smaller, probably to inspire and motivate, to walk the road less travelled, like him.
He would invite you to have lunch with him. He was glad to pose with you for a photo, that too in a very loving posture. He would come all the way down to see you off. This was humanity at its best. We don’t find such simplicity and humility often at that level. This makes George Muthoot stand out from among other leaders.
George Muthoot did spend his time and talent for his Church. He served as the trustee of the Indian Orthodox Church. His guidance and leadership went a long way to provide vision and strategy to the community. His commitment to spend his valuable time despite heading a national finance company with about 5000 branches across the length and the breadth of the country is to be greatly appreciated.
In a business world, where time is counted as money, without deep rooted commitment, you can’t expect a successful businessman like George Muthoot to spend his time for the affairs of the Church. He was the chairman of Muthoot Group. He was also a member of the National Executive Committee of the FICCI and the Chairman of the FICCI Kerala state council. This is faith in action.
George Muthoot spendt his life savings for showing compassion. Serving Others is the watchword of the Muthoot M George Foundation that he established in the memory of our Founder Chairman Late M. George Muthoot. The foundation has extended great support to individuals with need for education, medical care and marriage. It has provided support to numerous organizations like mine.
My first request to George Muthoot was to help us organize the BlindWalk program for promotion of eye donations. With his help we could organize a national campaign involving about 200 locations. My second request was to help us build houses in Kerala after floods. His Aashiyaan Scheme was building 200 houses for the flood victims. He agreed to do ten of those houses for those selected by us and built by us at a cost of 500,000 rupees each.
My third experience of his generosity was with the recent Covid related interventions for hunger. He was very glad to support our Mother’s Meal Kit for the palliative care patients in Kerala. Many people with great amount of money have not shown the kind of compassion that George Muthoot showed throughout his life.
According to Forbes India’s Richest List, the Forbes Asia Magazine listed him as the 50th richest man in India in 2011, and in 2019, his ranking climbed to 44th richest in India. He ensured that as his wealth increased, he shared more of it with those in need. This is living the Christian call to share.
The Church has lost a tall leader. The business community has lost someone whom they could look upto for example. The young people have lost a guide and icon.
George Muthoot showed us the way to success. He showed that with a wider vision and larger planning, even a small business firm can make it to the national and global scenario. We don’t have many brands from Kerala that became a popular group outside. Muthoot is one. He is a model of success for many of our aspiring young people.
Our challenge is to walk his path. Rest in Peace George Muthoot. We will try our best.
(Bengaluru-based Claretian Father George Kannanthanam is involved with various social programs for the marginalized groups since 30 years. He founded the HOPE Society in 1988 to help alcoholics. He lived with the leprosy affected persons at the Sumanahalli Centre for 12 years and established SUPPORT centers in Bengaluru and Belgaum for HIV care and rehabilitation. He was involved with disaster management programs for tsunami, earthquake in Nepal and floods in Kerala and now for Covid. He has built more than 1,500 houses for families in distress.)