Meeting John Kuruvilla

A lot of coincidences happened together to lead me to a chance meeting with John Kuruvilla. I was at IMT Nagpur for a weekend to deliver a few lectures on Blockchain Technology, a course that I was teaching as visiting faculty. We were both at the same guesthouse in the campus. I had finished my lecture and was thinking of taking some rest in my room as I wasn't feeling very well. I requested that the evening snacks and tea be delivered to my room. But the attendant served it in the common room of the guest house and requested that I had them there. Reluctantly, I went. And I met John and Lisa there. I thought at first that John was another visiting faculty. My mind started its routines to suppress the bout of introversion and to prepare me for some conversation with a stranger.

As I sat to have some pani puri, John introduced himself and Lisa, his wife. He called himself a "disruptor", that he had traveled all over India on his bike covering college campuses, discovered the potential of young India first-hand, but also deeply realized that he had to do more to help them. There were a few copies of "Simply Fly" lying by his side. It is the autobiography of Captain Gopinath - the founder of Air Deccan, the company which revolutionized commercial aviation in India and made it accessible to the Indian middle-class. I told him I had read that book many years back and had liked it. He said then I must know him coz he was mentioned in the book. I hardly remembered much from that book, except that it was extremely inspiring. With embarrassment I had to tell John I didn't quite remember the details as I had read it more than a decade ago.

As they were leaving from the room, John invited me to attend his session that was going to start in 30 mins. Reluctantly, I said yes, fighting my urge to take rest as I was tired and unwell. And I'm glad I went.

As I was getting ready for the session - wearing back the somewhat formal attire I got rid of after class, my phone brought me a little up to speed about John. I noticed that his LinkedIn profile was full of CXO positions. And I noticed his Air Deccan connection. In hindsight now, I feel may be he's so not used to being not recognized, much less to being totally not known to someone. But his humility was admirable. Except, and I say it as a joke, for the part where he called himself a "disruptor" - a term which along with its synonyms is getting too much abused by the so-called top voices of LinkedIn.

The session was in a large auditorium at IMT Nagpur, just a few minutes' walk from the guest house where we were staying. John welcomed me very warmly and requested that I sit in the front row, which the introverted me reluctantly obliged. The audience were mostly MBA students. The session was about finding one's calling. John gave glimpses of his own life to build his narrative.

He had an extremely successful career spanning three decades in various top corporates, which made him arrogant, he says. At the peak of this career, with heart full of pride and arrogance because of years of success and recognition, he suffered from a life-threatening condition. It took away a few years of his life, was painful and tough. It transformed his thinking, made him question the meaning of it all. His recovery was a blessing that he didn't want to waste. He travelled extensively, opened himself to newer experiences, experimented with various kinds of adventure and looked beyond his earlier limited vision. His most inspirational narrative was about his experience at crossing the Amazon rain forest, facing death from up close, yet being prepared more than 100% to fight it each time, and survive.

He came back from it all as a renewed self. I guess it's the depth and intensity of such experiences that enables one to see beyond the boundaries which we set for ourselves, that limit our goals and ambitions. John found his calling, and I won't try to put it in my words. However, the lesson as I understood was in exploration, learning and pushing boundaries. It shouldn't take us a near-death experience to realize the true purpose of the one life we've got and to discover and define for ourselves what is our true calling. It's still a search, and search can be long. One still has to keep looking with curiosity, enthusiasm and constant preparation. It's possible one is still on that path but needs to reach beyond a threshold to start seeing it more clearly as the goal of life or for things to take shape that way.

Towards the end of his presentation, John spoke about his stint at Air Deccan. He was one of the key figures behind the success of Air Deccan. As Chief Revenue Officer, he played a critical role in the success of the airline. He talked about novel ideas of the time pioneered by Air Deccan like making air travel more affordable by playing smart with the economics of the business, e.g., slashing rates and playing with pricing rather than sending ~40% vacant planes, selling tickets at petrol pumps, competing with the railways, etc.

I understand it was a team effort, and I also understand that a team sometimes takes the credit away from the individual for a path breaking idea, and I must say I also understand that an idea is nothing without its execution which is impossible without the team effort - and we come full circle - for whatever was the extent of the impact John was able to create at Air Deccan, I have great respect for him and especially the airline and what it was able to accomplish for India. My first flight was with Air Deccan. It made me, and many more like me, feel like even they are worthy of air travel. I think that was a big shift in our collective mindset, especially for the middle and upper middle-class population of India. It was a shift that went along with the economic strides that we made during those times and are still continuing to do.

I went to John after the session, shook his hand and said: "I am almost embarrassed I didn't know you".