Matric-failed makes big in life

By Lissy Maruthanakuzhy

Ottapalam, July 17, 2024: When K V Sajeesh failed in his tenth-grade exam, everyone expected him to join his parents as a daily wager. But today, around 600 neurosurgeons and 380 cardiac surgeons depend on him to do their job.

The 34-year-old founder director of Kay Vee Surgicals in Kerala state’s Ottapalam town has proved that success does not depend only on academic qualifications.

“We cannot live from the lessons learned from school books. We should be passionate about what we have learned in life. Do it with commitment, sincerity and without compromise, then success will follow in life,” the winner of Kairali TV’s 2023 Innotech Tech Award told Matters India July 14.

Sajeesh recalls that his parents, who worked in a stone quarry, decided to send him to Bangalore (now Bengaluru) when he scored single digit marks in three subjects in the matriculation exam.

“They did not want me to become a daily wager like them. They thought I would pick up some trade in Bangalore,” he said.

That was what the 16-year-old did after landing at one of the railway stations in the city of gardens.

Narrating his journey to becoming a successful entrepreneur, the father of three said he was lost when he landed at the station.

“As I did not know Kannada, I had no clue what to do in that strange place. I met a Malayali at the station and told him that I had come for some job. He patted my back and took me to his company that made surgical instruments.”

The man gave him a job that suited his age: wash new instruments and pack them.

“I did my job quickly and then observed those working in the production department. The owner noticed my eagerness and told me to help those people after I completed my work,” Sajeesh recalled.

Three years later, he had learned the work so well that the owner chose him from the department’s 30 employees to do other important work.

The Bangalore company produced instruments that were designed and modified by Germans. The company also repaired the German-made instruments brought from the hospitals that they could not get repaired in Germany.

“When the company got such work it entrusted the job to its best employee,” Sajeesh explained how he became the chosen worker.

As he repaired the machine, he also tried to make a replica. This convinced the owner about Sajeesh’s capability.

Some doctors found it difficult to undertake surgeries with the readymade instruments. So, they asked Sajeesh’s company to make such instruments for them. Sajeesh was given the task and the customers were satisfied with his work. The company began to get more orders and Sajeesh’s work increased.

But the owner gradually stopped appreciating Sajeesh’s efforts.

Meanwhile Sajeesh’s parents faced financial problems. Sajeesh approached the owner for help and he promised to help.

But Sajeesh met with an accident and got hospitalized.

“The owner helped with the treatment. However, his attitude towards me changed after this. My hand was injured badly and the doctor told him that I would not be able to carry heavy items,” Sajeesh recalled.

So, when he joined duty after the accident, the owner did not give him new work. “I did not see in him the consideration he had for me earlier. He also did not make any effort to help me financially. So, I left the company in tears after six years.

But Sajeesh now realizes that it was the turning point in his life. “God works in different ways to show us new ways,“ said the Hindu entrepreneur.

When he reached home, the situation there was bad. On his father’s suggestion, he sold their house to pay debts incurred for his sister’s marriage and moved to a rented house.

“I needed to work and the only trade I knew was to make surgical instruments. But how will I market it?” he recalled.

In the Bangalore company, people with MBA were trained to see its product. “I had no such network. But God came to me in the person of Doctor Jose,” he said.

He remembered Doctor Jose Chacko, a recipient of the Padmashree Award, for whom his company had made an instrument. Since he knew Doctor Jose personally, Sajeesh travelled to Ernakulam to meet him. Four days of waiting did not bear fruit because he had no document to present that he was coming from a company.

“Before returning home I decided to make one more attempt. So, I waited at the car parking. When Doctor Jose came, he recognized me and I told him about the home situation,” Sajeesh said.

Sajeesh, he cried with joy when the doctor recognized him.

When Sajeesh told the doctor that he did not know what to do, the doctor said, “I will tell you what to do.” He told Sajeesh that he was happy with the instrument he had made for him earlier.

The doctor promised to help him and give him the initial amount to start the business under a brand name. The doctor also placed the first order.

“He has made me what I am today,” Satheesh acknowledged.

He recalled the doctor advising him not to work for money or compromise on quality. “If we do our job well, money will spontaneously flow towards us,” Sajeesh recalled the doctor telling him.

The doctor also told him to always keep in mind why he was making an instrument – to give new life to patients fighting for life. “If you go ahead with this thought, you will certainly succeed,” the doctor patted his back and left.

Sajeesh started his work in a shed, adjacent to his rented house, and named his company Kay Vee Surgicals, ten years ago.

“Before I completed the first order I began getting telephone calls with more orders from various doctors. They were Doctor Jose’s friends. I did not go around collecting orders. They came to me.”

As the work and staff increased, he moved to a place with more space and facility. Now, he has about 40 staff who produce about 1,500 types of instruments.

Today, he has 600 neurosurgeons and 380 cardiac surgeons as clients.

“Surgeons imagine and we create,” is his motto.

Two years ago, Sajeesh started K V Surgical Instruments and Research Centre to provide a conducive atmosphere for doctors and families to spend overnight and at the same time discuss new improvised surgical instruments.

Recently, Sajeesh received an invitation from the Ministry of Qatar to start a branch in that country.