For the changes we want to see in the world, the first thing we need to do is ourselves. A strong-willed person who wants to find self-enlightenment, having right mind set, would lead thousands of others to carry the light later and make the world itself brighter.
Mumbai-based Warrier Foundation and Kaivalya Enterprises are such movement of personalities who have realized their life's mission and totally devoted to social work activities. A. S. Madhavan is the spearhead of these movements.
Apart from that, the logistics firms FLYJAC, JWC & JWR LOGISTIC PARK and JWL COLD STORAGE founded by A. S. Madhavan at the business level have achieved phenomenal growth in the logistics sector today. The FLYJAC Logistics later bought Hitachi Transport Systems India. During that period FLYJAC gave more than 2000 employees a bonus of 5 to 6 months according to their years of service. That means a person who worked for 20 years got 120 months of bonus. After 13 years, Hitachi Transport System India was merged with FLYJAC Logistics.
A. S. Madhavan and the organizations he leads have gained attention through countless social activities in Kerala and other states. Free education for the underprivileged and needy of the society, free housing orphanages, sports academies for the younger generation, old age homes for the elderly, holistic living centers and schools for the retired, skill development centers to provide employment to the youth, solar energy and water conservation projects with emphasis on nature conservation, many projects to protect the Goddess Earth by holding fruit trees etc. are being carried out under the leadership of Warrier Foundation and Kaivalya Enterprises.
Tharavad Retirement Holistic Living Centre
By the grace of God, for the upliftment and social realizations of the country, taking into account the needs of the public, four social projects will be inaugurated at various centers from April 9 to 16, 2023; and two days (April 12 and 13 from 9 am) of spiritual lectures by Swami Udit Chaitanya.
The first of the new projects in 2023 to be inaugurated on Sunday, April 9 at 9.30 am is the Retirement Holistic Living Center called Tharavad in Chalissery, Kootanad. This project by Kaivalya Enterprises has an area of around 42,000 sq. ft., built on Ettukettu (Traditional Kerala Ettukettu Mansion) model and equipped with state-of-the-art facilities to accommodate 48 families. The facility, which will be completed on an area of 6.50 acres, will have many fruit trees, spa, swimming pool, common kitchen, guest rooms, doctor's consulting room, specially designed playgrounds, footpath, and garden, open auditorium, parking slot and servant quarters. Each apartment is air-conditioned and furnished with television sets and attached bathroom. Nearby is the Athrassery Thevar Temple, which has been restored by the Warrier Foundation and locals.
With the social commitment, A. S. Madhavan’s, who completed 73 years, vision is to make a hundred percent increase in the areas of operations done so far in the next two years.
Shelters for the destitute
In the last 2 years, 248 houses have been constructed for the deserving needy in Anakatti, Sholayur, Attappadi, Kumbidi, Kuttipuram and Mazhuvannur in Kerala. The next goal is to build a thousand houses and provide shelter.
On April 14th at 4 pm, hand over of the keys of six houses will be held in the presence of great persons at Naduvattam, Thekke Nagaparambu.
Employment for five thousand people
Warrier Foundation Skill Academy has also envisioned a project to provide employment to 5000 women and youth. Warrier Foundation has trained more than 350 unemployed youth for a year through Thirunnavaya Skill Center by joining hands with various Central and State Ministries and NGOs; and provided employment to all by 2022.
The Skill Academy at Thirunnavaya is preparing to realize the concept of GIVING BACK TO THE INDUSTRY by A. S. Madhavan and Ravikumar, who have been handling logistics for world-class companies for more than fifty years.
Emphasis on personality development – the scheme is designed in the academy with special focus on boosting the self-confidence of an unemployed person with communication skills, computer skills, interview preparations, yoga and meditation. With these skills, they would get jobs in world class companies at very low cost. The children trained from Skill Academy got jobs already in companies like DHL, FLYJAC, YCH, AMAZON INDIA, FLIPKART, RELIANCE, TATA etc.
Multi-Purpose Hall and Sports Academy
The third project is a multi-purpose hall for Skill Development Centre. The inauguration of this hall will be held on Friday, April 14, 2023 at 10 am at Thirunnavaya Warrier Foundation Auditorium.
Warrier Foundation Sports Academy in Mazhuvannur opens the door of excellence in the field of sports. Currently 65 children are studying in this residential sports center. They are given expert training in football and volleyball. In past years, children from here have been selected in district and state level teams.
The fourth project is a sports court cum multi-purpose auditorium. The inauguration of this auditorium, which has been completed with an area of about 25000 square feet, will be held on Sunday, April 16, 2023 at Mazhuvannoor Warrier Foundation Auditorium. Warrier Foundation is committed to finding sports-loving children from all over Kerala and giving them special training to make them proud stars of the country.
The path blazed by my father
A. S. Madhavan was born in Tirunnavaya, known as the southern Kashi of Kerala and the land of Mamangam. Father Shulapani Warrier and mother Padmavati Warassyar. Born fifth in a family of nine children. Family members believe that Sethumadhavan was born as a result of going to temples in Rameswaram, Palani and Madurai to pray for a fifth boy after having four girls.
My father was a devotee of Ayyappa who surrendered himself to the call of Swamiye Sharanam. The fact is that the great man who devoted himself to the tasks of the day without worrying about the future did not even have a bank account when he died.
The fact is that the great man who devoted himself to the tasks of the day without worrying about the future did not even have a bank account when he died. The goal of life is achieved when we can raise the next generation with calm attitude without panic. From a young age, my father inspired his children to lose the sense of self through social activities and travel through a cultural path that embodies the unity of the spiritual power to embrace all things. Perhaps it was that sense of duty that led Madhavan to spiritual and social activities. Building such a social sphere of action across generations is the philosophy and mission of Warrier Foundation and Kaivalya Enterprises.
To the metropolis of Bombay
After completing his primary education and polytechnic studies, he worked as an apprentice in an automobile garage in Thrissur for some time. All work, including washing the car, had to be done there. There is no salary, only the benefit of free meals. But the job was done sincerely.
In the meantime, an opportunity to go to Bombay is being prepared. In 1968, the only purpose of the trip was to take my grandmother to Cheriamma. What time has kept for cannot be rectified. A new life assignment was waiting in the metropolis of Bombay. On his arrival in Bombay, he met Gopiettan, an acquaintance of his, and got a job in his company - Elmecha Works, a Gujarati company. Neither Hindi nor English is known to me, and the job was in the marketing department.
To the first job without knowing anything
Not knowing how to start or continue; a very strange situation. It was a time when even the security guards standing in front of big companies were working by wearing full pants and it was rooted in my mind that they are some big officials. (For, Madhavan's was a rural background where even top police officers in Kerala used to wear half pants). At the beginning of the work, he frankly told to the customers that he did not even have a clear understanding of the machine tool accessories product to be marketed. Because of their compassion, they shared their knowledge and needs about the product. A completely honest approach, it worked. Within six months, he was recognized in the company and was quickly promoted. If you book a scooter at that time, it will take ten years to get it delivered. Madhavan got the scooter booked by the company without giving it to the manager. It was a gift of love for excellent service.
Sethumadhavan to A. S. Madhavan
Later, a change in career happened when he joined Gordon Woodroffe Logistics as a Resident Sales Engineer. Although many highly qualified candidates applied for the post, Madhavan was assigned the job. Sethuratnam, a native of Kozhikode, was the director of that company. There is a story behind getting that job. When he gave his resume, Sethuratnam took it in the second interview and threw it in the trash. Later he himself helped to prepare a new resume. Athrasseri Sethumadhavan was shortened to A. S. Madhavan. This was done to avoid the misunderstanding that both of them are family members because Sethu is in their name. Later that name shined like a star due to success in socio-spiritual work life.
Madhavan soon made his presence felt in Gordon Woodroffe. He traveled extensively in India and abroad.
He worked in that company for fifteen years and could make many positive changes in the marketing field of that company. He was able to take that company to a higher level. A. S. Madhavan was an expert in finding unique ideas (out-of-box thinking) and bringing them to practical level. He took the companies Gordon Woodroffe and Panalpina to great heights with his marketing skills.
In 1990, he started his own company FLYJAC Logistics in Bombay. FLYJAC quickly grew internationally. It was possible to use the old official life experiences beneficially for the growth of the company. Madhavan firmly believes that if anyone is given a chance to express their individuality, they can rise.
It was believed that there would be time and freedom to work more in the spiritual field. When he has his own organization, he is free to use a portion of the income for social activities. The limited time availability due to taking on the responsibility of a large organization, there were many disruptions without getting time for socio-spiritual activities.
Although this is true, by doing meditation, yoga, etc., he was able to continue his social activities through such crises with self-control. Due to this, FLYJAC has received much recognition in the professional field and in the field of social service.
Madhavan had given everyone in his organization the opportunity to learn things on their own and grow and become excellent. He also provided his employees with the same independent environment in which he grew up.
Social work - the mission of life
As he wanted, he became more active in the field of social work. An old age home and a Gurukula Veda Vidhya Patasala were started in Bombay in collaboration with the NGO Janakalyan Sevashram. Later, Vedic school was started in Panvel, Navimumbai under the leadership of Warrier Foundation. Along with that, he participated in many social activities in collaboration with the NGO Giant International.
Today the movement has gained a lot of momentum after he became the chairman of the Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan School in Tirunnavaya, which had a lot of financial burdens.
Run in the Gurukula system, this school provides free education to underprivileged children up to Veda Bhushan. This course is conducted with the approval of Maharshi Sandipani Rashtriya Veda Vidyalaya (Recognised by Dept. of Education, Govt of India). The studies up to SSLC, Plus 2 of NIOS (National Institute of Open School) are also being conducted here. After getting this certificate, many people get higher education and work in higher positions. Now 75 students are studying here. They follow residential school pattern from fifth to twelfth standard. Warrier Foundation has a big goal to mold the next generation in the right way. Literally, this institution is a centre for personality development integration.
Children's centers were started in Thirunnavaya and Mazhuvannur with the same objective. Children in orphanages, who are educated in regular schools with free food and shelter, go on to earn good lives by working in big firms after higher education.
A. S. Madhavan asserts that everything has been done so far by divine orders. Each one came and joined like a mission in its own time. A. S. Madhavan is 73 years now. However, his service does not age. The journey continues by shedding light on the society and writing great examples of social work.
