Our Family
Family is a word so powerful, not everyone realizes until they have one. And I gradually made my family, a small family that lived together, laughed together, worked together and fought together. A doting and devoted wife, mother of my beautiful children and the definition of our family, my beloved wife, Mrs. Sumathi Velumani, came into my life in the year 1986. She knitted us, just like a thread weaved on a cloth to create it, she molded us, with a heart so pure and kind, she defined me and my family.
A Chemistry graduate by qualification, she worked in State Bank of India and quit the job the day I quit BARC, to work towards my vision of creating a Biochemistry focused preventive care laboratory. She became the major driving force for strengthening inter-departmental interactions, smooth franchisee and network relationships. From smallest to the largest of tasks, she ensured impeccable administrative support and smooth functioning of the day to day operations at Thyrocare.
Sumathi powered my ‘focus’ and backed me in good and bad, and even during uncertainties, like a backbone, Sumathi always reminded me why I started, when anger, failure and setbacks weighed me down. She mothered my organization so lovingly that my employees felt home to strive even harder and work never got obstructed. I lost her to pancreatic cancer in the year 2016.
Such was her love, that even with her physical being not existing in living; it can be felt every day, in my work, in my children and everywhere around me. Anything invisible to eyes doesn’t mean it ceases to exist, for a love so true can never lets its energy die.
My son, Anand Velumani, had always been a keen observer, an avid listener thus a silent child with but having a mind with continuous active thoughts. Now, a post-graduate in biotechnology with aspirations to pursue further studies, he has already inducted himself in our organization, learnt to steer the course to expand our diagnostic business. My daughter, Amruta Velumani, always an active child, quick learner and wittingly decisive, has grown into a strong woman. With a postgraduate degree in biotechnology, she is already on board in the management to head Thyrocare towards its expansion.
While not a grades-hungry father, I have always been a disciplinarian while she pampered our children with the right amount of love and ingrained values hard to find in a fast world of fragile relationships. A grounded upbringing ingrained roots so deep, that familial achievements of wealth and success never shook their core. Frugality imbibed at a young age, a focus to sharpen their inherent talents, they strive at a young age to better themselves from yesterday.
Sumathi was a learner, so are my children, neither of us let the learner in us diminish. As we tread on the path to expand our business and reach new heights, my Sumathi empowers us with her love, trust and dedication she bestowed all these years, to make anything possible.
Mrs. Sumathi Velumani’s Family
Born in Cochin and brought up in Bombay, Sumathi Rao was the eldest daughter of Mr. Keshav Rao, an ex-serviceman of Indian Navy and a timid but hard working Mrs. Sarala Keshav Rao. Their family, residing in the BARC colony, was neither well off, nor unfortunate but believed in following a frugal and educationally uplifting lifestyle. Sumathi in an early age had an inclination towards science which fascinated her, making her path towards perceiving BSc in Chemistry clear. Being the eldest one made Sumathi responsible towards her siblings - two younger sisters (Jayanthi and Shanthi) and a youngest brother (Rajgopal Rao), which made her - without any ado - hunt for a job at the earliest. Sumathi worked in State Bank of India for 15 long years before joining Thyrocare. The rest became a history of Thyrocare and it’s growth.
Dr. A. Velumani’s Family
Word are hard to describe and were never required to feel the invisible bond, a bond of faith and togetherness so strong, which tied us as a family. We weren’t bestowed with immense wealth, but always had an unspoken loyalty and care for each other.
Mine wasn’t an affluent family with a business lineage, but a simple rural family which earned a sufficient livelihood by farming maize continuously for 3-4 months in the rainy season. My Amma, Sayammal, a simple, honest and hardworking woman had focus, frugality, simplicity and determination as her jewels. She worked in the fields with my Appa, Aarogyaswamy, a simple and frugal man, a farmer by profession, who was an avid listener and never forced his views on us. Appa being aloof to societal pressures, was a fair man who didn’t burden me or my siblings with his pressures and choices. Freedom to act and move on our own, gave us free will to weave our own path. My parents didn’t know or believe in pampering kids, but neither discouraged nor imposed their aspirations on us.
Love and care flew naturally to Amma, not with sugarcoated words but by swiftly managing tons of household chores without complaining. She was a wife, a mother and an industrious woman, who took care of 4 kids and a husband, and farmed corn as well. A meager meal was satisfying for Appa who worked hard, but overtime started growing worrisome on how to manage feeding our family. Seeing his helplessness, a quick decisive, Amma invested in 2 buffaloes and reared them. She sold milk in the market, which fetched Rs. 50 every week, and sustained our family for 10 long years. Usually, parent’s advices to focus and work hard just get adsorbed by kids, but Amma’s determination to meet the ends was getting absorbed by my 6 year old self. A perfect businesswoman managing life and work efficiently, I happened to meet early on…
In our family of 6, we are 3 brothers, me, Mr. Aarogyaswamy Sundaraju and Mr. Aarogyaswamy Rathinaswamy, each with one year gap, and a sister, Mrs. Sushila Selvaraj. Call it fate or limited availability of resources, all four of us did our primary schooling from Town Panchayat Union School. Such was our unity, that we all acquired our Bachelor’s degree from the same university, Ramakrishna Mission Vidyalaya, Coimbatore. Even with difference in academic performances, we never compromised on our education and took our classes on a serious note. Being the eldest, right from childhood, for my siblings, I was their guide in studies, a big brother to advise in difficulties and a comrade in our playful adventures. We divided few of all the household chores among ourselves, to share the load while my parents worked.
Can’t be defined in words, but “a strong foundation of selfless love and honest support with absolutely 0 expectations in return = Amma”, started constructing the building, Velumani very early. Amma nurtured the family like how you nurture a plant, you water it everyday, she made her life revolve around her husband and kids. My parents believed if you can go to bed having enough to live without grumbling, you’re richer than the richest that fears the loss of losing all he has! We were a family with less demands and fewer amenities, but our existence together served as a strength to each other, the depth of oneness gave us the belief to move ahead to face what life had to offer!