LIGHT MAN OF KERALA
M. ABRAHAMJOHNSON, 50 M-tech Electro Digital Industry, KOZHIKODE, KERALA
Madathilakathu Abraham Johnson may be the lightest CEO in the world. The 50-yearold polio victim weighs just 20 kg but he has been running M-tech Electro Digital Industry since 1991. The unit, which manufactures LED and solar products, has an annual turnover of Rs 50 lakh and employs around 30 people. Indeed, his innovations and inventions have made him the ‘light man’ of Peruvannamuzhi in Kozhikode district of Kerala.
“I never went to school. My life was confined to the walls of my room as I was paralysed. My mother used to carry me in her hand. But God has given me a great gift...the ability to dream and learn,” says Johnson about his early life. He learnt to read and write by himself while watching his brothers do their homework. A major deterrent for him was his inability to move around. He needed support for everything, even to move inside his home. In fact, his mother used to carry him when he wanted to go outside, or on Sunday visits to church. This severely limited Johnson’s options in the remote village where he lived. “I really had very few options then. Nothing to do but sit and dream all day. The only good part was that my mind worked fast and I started learning things by reading every book I could get my hands on,” he says.
He first started repairing electronic gadgets after reading the manuals and later learnt the art of making electronic decorative boards. “In the 1990s, our village had a huge electricity problem plagued by low voltages. I wanted to find a solution and through trial and error came up with electronic chokes that could boost low voltages. Finally I started manufacturing 5 volt electronic chokes. There was a ready demand for my products,” says Johnson about how his business started.
After five years, he designed a stabiliser that could step up 5
“I WANTED TO MAKE A CHANGE IN SOCIETY... DISABILITIES CANNOT RESTRICT YOU FROM DREAMING BIG AND CHASING THOSE DREAMS”
watt levels to 230 watts. It was the first of its kind in the market then. “I set up a micro enterprise with two workers and started manufacturing stabilisers. My products clicked, and I couldn’t keep up with the demand then. In 2004, I started making 3W LED bulbs and sold it for Rs 2,100 a bulb. Today, I’m selling it for Rs 85 a bulb,” Johnson says.
Meanwhile, Johnson married Usha, a Hindu woman who joined his firm as a helper. His family was against his marriage. “After my mother’s death, I had no one to support me. So I married Usha. She gave wings to my dreams,” he says. The couple have two children, the elder one is studying engineering while the younger one is a Class X student.
Very early on, Johnson had a vision about the LED revolution that was to happen in the power sector. When he started manufacturing LED bulbs, he had three objectives in mind—save power, zero waste and minimise the effect of global warming. “To be honest, the LED bulbs available in the markets are mostly 10 W. It can’t be an answer to saving power,” he argues. He has also branched out into manufacturing solar lights and is now selling them across Kerala.
According to Johnson, a major challenge even now is raising capital. “Even if you have a brilliant idea, it’s difficult to get a bank loan in Kerala. However good a project, the focus is always on how you will repay the loan, what guarantees you have. And my being a paralytic doesn’t help at all,” he says.
But all said and done, Johnson has no complaints. “Life is beautiful. I wanted to make a change in society and I had confidence in my abilities. Disabilities cannot restrict you from dreaming big and chasing those dreams,” he says. ■