WHAT WOULD you say of a young man who got bored of government service because there was actually nothing to do where he was posted? That, he quit because he didn’t like the idea of not having to go to the office, except to turn up after 2 months only to collect the salary?
Khiwamo Kath had already defined his future the moment he realised the importance of actually earning the money you receive.
He is a graduate of Kohima College and was exposed to our version of government ‘service’ at a young age as a student, whereby he concluded that being paid for no work done was certainly not his cup of tea and in the least fulfilling.
One could say an interview for Aamby Valley (a township developed by the Sahara India Pariwar in Pune district in the Indian state of Maharashtra) held at Kohima changed his course of direction. From what started as a 6-month recruitment at Aamby Valley has now stretched to over 10 years for Khiwamo Kath, who explored and struggled but, more importantly, weathered the storm to be where he is now.
He recalls with keenness the first project he was part of after finishing 6 months as a trainee. The project – ‘Lake Front Development’ - is close to his heart because it paved the way for him to show his worth. Although he did not have any formal training on the technical aspects, his home experiences of handling electrical lightings such as fixtures, putting up Christmas stars, etc, certainly came handy in helping him execute the interior and exterior electrical lightings as part of the project.
In the process, he was trained on lifeguard, food and beverages and front office sections, which equipped him further. For the one and a half year project, he normally worked from 9 am until 3 am next morning, a cycle that continued for days to the extent that it even affected his health to an extent. But without a tinge of regret, he says it was fulfilling. His hard work earned him a reward incentive of Rs.1.5 lakhs as a trainee, something that even many of his seniors could not reach but settled for Rs.50-60,000.
“I was shocked, everybody was shocked,” he says. However, he is happy that it has contributed towards people starting to recognise the potential of Naga people and their capabilities even without technical know-how.
Khiwamo’s promotion thereafter is not much of a surprise because it is so well-deserving. Today, since he joined ten years back, he has had 6 promotions from being a trainee to Assistant Junior Worker (which is equivalent to LDA), to Officer, Senior Officer, Junior Executive, Senior Executive and currently the Relationship Manager (Public Relations) of Aamby Valley in Mumbai.
It is not only him but four Nagas altogether who proved their worth at Aamby Valley, even as he makes mention of the several responsibilities they are all assigned with such as Event Management, Celebrities Management and Naga Village at Aamby Valley. “Many people have come and many have left, but the four of us have stayed around,” he expresses. Clearly, he is proud of his Naga counterparts who are also doing exceptionally well.
Well, he confesses that he is emotionally attached with Sahara India Pariwar even as he delves into its different branches including media, infrastructure, housing, finance, tourism and sports, wherein Aamby Valley is one of the major properties for Sahara India Pariwar. His challenging job profile consists of brand promotion, organising events, business tours, etc.
By now, he has learnt how people do business or simply, how people manage time while emphasising still that ‘the time factor is very important for us’. He goes on to share that although one could not undergo technical studies, ‘when you are interested, you can do it’.
“There are lot of people like me back home in Nagaland who know how to do things because of experience and not necessarily formal training or qualification. Out here in the private firms, they do not consider technical qualification so long as you have the experience” he says.
An interesting event in Khiwamo’s life goes back to a Karaoke night where he stood up and sang “To be with you” by Mr. Big while he was out for a little leisure time. Whether by luck or destiny, his performance attracted the attention of the Porsche Manager who came up to congratulate him on his performance and they exchanged their cards. It so happened that Porsche Road Shows are held around the world every year and Khiwamo Kath was instrumental in bringing the Porsche Road Show to India, the first ever that happened in the country fulfilling the wish of the Manager to organise one in India.
During that 14-day period, he generated some 3 crores for the company, which, understandably is a great achievement for him.
Though the demands of his job are challenging, Khiwamo says he enjoys the rather fast life of Mumbai, the working atmosphere and, obviously, it’s his interest and commitment to his job that has taken him this far.
His future plans consist of more and more businesses like opening a PR agency in Nagaland even as he admits that home is where the heart is. “No matter what or however well you are doing outside, you still want to come back home someday and work for your people”, he states as a true blue Naga.
Khiwamo also has a warm heart drawn to helping people. He is known for extending a helping hand to Nagas and others from Nagaland coming to Mumbai for various purposes even if it means he has to miss work for a day, notwithstanding the fact that his day’s salary gets cut too! He says, “At one point of time I thought I should be a social worker”. Well, he likes photography and enjoys socialising with people, which is clearly manifested in the bigger sense of the word.
And yes, Khiwamo’s got his passion for higher goals firmly planted and once he decides he would do something, he does it.
Passion, commitment, hard work………..ingredients that can take you far and Khiwamo has clearly got the recipe right.
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