Kavirajan

Karuthakunju Kavirajan (May 25, 1929 - August 31, 2009) was a male innovative telephone engineer in Southern Indian and the General Manager of Indian Telephone Industries in Bangalore, India.
Early Years
Born on May 25, 1929 into a very wealth family who owned a large area of land along the sea front on the Keralan coast. He is the second eldest amongst the 7 children in the family.
As a seven year old he witnessed the destruction of their family house and large portion of their land consumed by the large waves of the tsunami that hit the Keralan coast in 1936. The family were reduced to almost poverty levels overnight.
As a child he was a very bright, energetic, inquisitive and enthusiastic. He was quite determined to lift the family out of their desolate situation. He focussed on his education which he realised very early on as the key to the solution. He did exceptionally well in his school and followed on to go to Travancore University to do his Diploma in Engineering for which he achieved the top honours i.e. the Maharaja of Travancore's Gold Medal.
Achievements
He took up employment immediately soon after graduation with the Post & Telegraph of India and was actively involved with the electrification in the state of Kerala.
He later joined the Indian Telephone Industries in Bangalore as an Electrical and Communications Engineer and rose to become it’s General Manager.
He set up the first traffic light signalling system in Bangalore city at the Oriental Circle junction in the centre of the City.
The telephone exchange systems (Strowger Switching) in Calicut, Rourkela, Rae Bareli, and other cities in India were set up under his guidance and oversight.
On deputation to the Bell Telephone Company, Belgium he set up the telephone exchange system in Lima, Peru between 1969 and 1971. He subsequently was involved with European projects with the Bell telephone Company Belgium. He received various accolades for his innovative and tireless contribution to those projects.
Death
He was active till the day before his death. He had cardiac and diabetic problems. Although the medical problems which affected him were serious, his drive and determination always won till his sudden death on Sunday the 31st August 2009.

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