Diaspora
By Vinod Raghavan*
Muscat: Fortune favours the brave and courageous. Sincerity and hard work bear the fruits of success. These are old adages that many believe and follow. In real life too, there are many who have reached great heights of success through sheer hard work and courage to beat adversities.
One such person is Koyamurath Puthiyapurayil Mohammed Kutty popularly known as Mammooty. His inspiring story today motivates many to achieve great successes in life.
Mammooty, who hails from Kannur district in Kerala, is at present the managing director of Makkah Hypermarket Group in Oman. But when he had arrived in Oman as a young man in the late 80s, he was just a labourer and delivery boy who used to carry loads of groceries and food items on bicycle to customers’ homes in the scorching heat of the desert nation from his brother-in-law’s grocery shop. Undaunted by the tough circumstances, he learnt driving and cleared the tough test to get his driving license which turned out to be a big change in his life.
Recalling his earlier struggle, Mammooty told globalbihari.com in Muscat: “Those were really hard days. I first came to a shop which belonged to my brother in law in Seeb souq. I did all sorts of job including loading and unloading and I had always dreamt of coming up in life. I used to drive a big van to Dubai and bring fruits and vegetables and other goods needed for Omani market. On my way back I used to supply them at shops all along the road and collected money in my return trip before my next trip to Dubai. Really worked hard. I used to tie a soaked towel around my head so that I wouldn’t fall asleep during driving.”
As he said, initially, the young man used to shuttle between Oman’s farms and the market at Seeb town, supplying fresh farm products in his vehicle. But soon he was able to extend his business of supplying vegetables and fruits to the neighbouring Dubai.Gradually he set up a small vegetable and fruits shop in Seeb.
But that was just the beginning of an incredible journey. With his hard work, honesty, and visionary zeal, he was destined to expand his empire in Gulf countries. Mammooty was sincere and used to maintain the daily collections and expenses very meticulously. “Those were days full of opportunities and anyone who has the grit to work hard could excel and be successful in life. All we needed was a mind to work hard and things fell in place in due course of time,” he said. He explained that in those days rules and regulations governing expatriate businesses were lesser when compared to today, “which gave more or less free hands to us”. He however was quick to add that newer rules and regulations became necessary as economy developed and society improved,.
His business started flourishing and he started spreading his wings to various parts of Oman and also to other parts of the Gulf region. And then he never looked back. A testimony of his growing empire was the opening of the 31st branch of Makkah Hypermarket with a wide range of high-quality products under categories like food, home furnishings, fashion, footwear, household and much more, and spread over an area of about 64,500 square feet in a double level, in Seeb only last week. This was indeed a proud moment not only for this self-made man, but his well wishers too who had proudly got associated with him such as Saif Mohammed Abdullah Al Naumani, Local Sponsor of Makkah Group, Muhammed Kunhi K.P., Hilal Muhammed and Sinan Muhammed. Together as a team, today they dream of establishing more outlets within the Sultanate of Oman to cater to the needs of the local community.
*Senior journalist
