This
week we will be getting some inspiration from a person who has made
flying simple, or in the words of Gopinath himself "Simplyfly".
Yes we are talking about Captain Gorur Ramaswamy Iyengar Gopinath
famously known as Captain Gopinath, who made it big with his life.
Early Days
Captain
Gorur Ramaswamy Iyengar Gopinath (or 'Gopi' to his friends) was born in
a Hassan Iyengar family in the remote village of Gorur, Karnataka.
His
father was a poor school teacher and a farmer as well. Gopi went to a
Kannada-medium school till Class V after which he was selected at the
Sainik School in Bijapur which had just been set up to cater to students
in Karnataka. There with the help of the headmaster of his school, he
first got to know about army and placements in the armed forces.
He decided to take up the job and went to write the examination to join the armed forces.
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Incidentally,
he failed the first time he appeared for the entrance exam as the paper
was in English of which he did not know a word. His headmaster,
however, was a very determined man and he wrote to the defense ministry
asking them how they hoped to recruit boys from villages in South India
if the paper was held in English and not in their mother tongue. He was
able to appear again for the exam, this time in Kannada and that's how
he got selected. And went on to become Captain Gopinath.
He
had spent eight years serving for the country and during his tenure he
was placed in all the places around the borders, right from Bangladesh,
Himalayas, and Kashmir to Rajasthan; where he served for the country.
Once he was done with his graduation he was appointed as an Officer of the Indian Army.
He
has also taken part in the 1971 Bangladesh Liberation war. But some how
the life in military has not convinced him, he was not happy with the
basic idea of killing. He always wanted to do something to his village.
Apparently, he quit the Army to come back to his village and take up
farming.
Thereafter
he became a farmer who converted barren land in to proper plantation.
He got into sericulture and eco-farming (award winning Seri culturist).
Next, he started the Malnad Mobikes (Enfield dealership) and opened a
hotel in Hassan.
Although
he was making some good money, he was not completely happy with what he
is doing; he wanted to make use of his experience in military and then
came the idea of starting an aviation unit.
Birth of the Spark
He
had set up Deccan Charter, India's first private helicopter charter
company which was followed by India's first low-cost airline Air Deccan.
It
was not until the year 1995 when the government took measures to
improve the aviation sector in India, several rules where relaxed in
order to encourage entrepreneurs to invest and explore air
transportation. The reforms initiated by the management did see positive
results. And many new players started to show a keen interest in this
sector; Captain Gopinath was also one among them. It was him and a close
friend from the armed services who came together with the idea to start
a private commercial helicopter service known as Deccan Aviation. In
1997, the service became operational, while Bangalore became its
headquarters. The helicopter service extended to cities like Ahmedabad,
Cochin, Delhi, Indore, Mumbai, Chennai, Kolkata, Bangalore, Hyderabad,
Bhubaneswar, Jamshedpur and Coochbehar.
This
aviation company began with just a single helicopter, but currently
boasts of a fleet that commutes across several destinations in the
country. In 2003, Captain Gopinath began his first air-craft service
known as Air Deccan, this air service was a low-cost brand, and the main
aim was to fulfill the common man's dream to fly. Air Deccan was one of
the first low-cost services in India and was an instant success but due
to the excessive competition from other similar airline carriers.
Beginning
with just four flights a day, AIR DECCAN in 2007 flew more than 350
flights daily connecting 65 destinations including hitherto unconnected
sectors, across the country. Air Deccan has flown over 11.5 million
people since inception. The airline had emerged as the largest people's
carrier in a span of 4 years, overtaking the national carrier operating
for 55 years.
The
Company's overwhelming growth also saw the entry of several other low
cost airbuses such as Indigo Airlines, Go Air, Spice Jet and Jet Lite.
In 2007, Captain Gopinath was left with no other alternative but to
consolidate with the Kingfisher Airlines, the merger earned him
substantial profits. Currently Air Deccan is known as Kingfisher Red
with Vijay Mallya being the CEO and Chairman.
Meanwhile,
the helicopter services exteneted to Sri Lanka in 2004 promoting itself
as a major private charter services. The year 2009 saw Captain Gopinath
get into the role of a politician when he stood as an independent
candidate in the Lok Sabha elections, but failed to gather sufficient
support from the general public. On the business front he was also
responsible for starting operations for a new freight flight known as
Deccan 360.
Coming
from a modest background, Captain Gopinath is a multi-faceted
personality. He comfortably shifted into different guises: an Army
Officer, India's leading business man, an independent political
candidate, an eco- friendly farmer and a well known author. With so much
diversity to his personality it is no doubt that he is one of the most
interesting and distinguished persons that one can come cross. Despite
his many roles he is well known as a pioneer of low-cost airlines, a
venture capitalist who revolutionized the face of Indian aviation in the
country. His book "Simply Fly" sheds light on the remarkable journey of
turning his ambitious vision into a successful business story. Unlike
other entrepreneurs Captain Gopinath's attempts to inspire young
business men in the country have been successful. His phenomenal success
in such a short span of time has been rewarded by many well known and
prestigious institutions.
Captain
Gopinath has been an important face of India aviation; his business
ideologies transformed the airline sector into a thriving and profitable
sector. Today, an airline is no more restricted to just an elite group
of people but has become a affordable and feasible transportation means
in the country.
He currently lives in Bangalore with his wife and 2 daughters, Pallavi and Krithika.
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