THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: As a schoolboy, V Suresh Kumar was so fragile that he was stopped from taking part in the long jump competition as the authorities feared he might hurt himself. But he beat the odds to emerge as a middle-distance runner and bodybuilder, and went on to claim the Mr Trivandrum title. In a similar vein, an impoverished childhood that forced him to eke out a living by tapping rubber and working as a headload worker could not beat his indomitable spirit to become a doctor by passing the medical entrance test at the age of 31.
Sounds unbelievable? Meet V Suresh Kumar, hailing from Ottasekharamangalam in Thiruvananthapuram district, who has made it a reality. His endeavour to set new goals and achieve it have seen him going places.Suresh’s friends had used to banish him from the territory of sports and games because of his fragile body. His boyhood days never had any room for playfulness and hilarious moments as the family atmosphere was completely murky.
“My schoolmates didn’t want me in their team as they feared certain defeat. But my greatest inspiration was my setbacks. An impoverished childhood and the situation that followed forced me to become a rubber tapper and headload worker,” recalls Kumar.In between all the hard labour, he passed SSLC and pre-degree, both in second class.Then onwards, he was deciding to make a change in his life.
Suresh Kumar tried to capture the joys which had been snatched away in his childhood. His strenuous practices helped him complete 800 metres race under two minutes. Initiating to bodybuilding at 17, he won laurels, including the Mr Trivandrum title.
While striving hard to become a bodybuilder, he started practising yoga and kalaripayattu. But he had a strong urge to become a doctor. After graduating in chemistry, he opened a tuition centre at Kattakkada which earned him the income to pursue his passion. But by the time he equipped himself to write the entrance exam in 1996, he was already 31.
His temporary assignments at the Panchakarma institute helped him a lot. By August 2003, he shifted to Malaysia to work at an Ayurvedic clinic. Being a senior Ayurvedic physician and yoga master, he started providing holistic health and wellness training and treatment. It earned him a name in Malaysia.
“As I’ve incorporated lifestyle modification solutions such as correcting patients’ eating patterns, posture, stress management, mindfulness and breathing and relaxation techniques, I was made a curriculum consultant with the National Occupational Skills Standards on Ayurvedic courses in Malaysia,” he said.
Impressed by his work, Taylor’s University in Subang Jaya engaged him as a senior lecturer and health wellness consultant in 2015. It was probably the first varsity outside India to incorporate a health and wellness programme based on Ayurveda and yoga as part of its curriculum.Kumar will lead a mass yoga programme in Kochi on May 20 as part of the World Ayurvedic Congress.