Revathi Kamath’s epic life of incredible experiences and stellar success

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A house where the dear sound of Veena, enlightening education, and ancient traditions prospered the evergreen family. Revathi Kamath was born to a middle-class Brahmin Family in Shringeri. She is the 10^th child to her father N. Krishnamurthy, a triple graduate and a talented Veena player, and mother Shyamalamma. Her grandparents were Sanskrit Scholars. Her father-in-law was the founder of Mysore Sandalwood. Music and education was very important in her family right since her childhood. Her family constantly kept feeding her with all the knowledge about music and academics they possessed. She always used to wake up to the beautiful sound of Veena. Her father N. Krishnamurthi always wakes up at 4 in the morning and enjoyed playing Veena, starting the day with music and creating that joyful environment in the house. He learned Veena from his teacher Veena Venkatagiriyappa

Revathi Kamath’s father N. Krishnamurthy was a lawyer. After finishing his studies N. Krishnamurthy moved to Bombay and practiced law. He later quit law and associated with Vanmaya School in Mysore as a Veena teacher.  

Discovering her talent

Revathi Kamath’s husband Raghuram Kamath used to bring her flowers from his bank where he worked, which she used to decorate beautifully and her creativity was flowing. Eventually, she discovered that she had a talent for the art, Revathi Kamath took her talent seriously and approached a company called Wipro for a demonstration of flower decoration with the flowers she purchased for 5000 Rupees which she loaned from her

friend. The team was impressed with her skills and gave her a work order of 45,000 rupees, her first work order as a Floral Artist. So Revathi Kamath would do all the housework, cook food, look after her children, and then go to work. Her sheer hard work earned her phenomenal success right from the beginning of her career.

The unbridled pursuit of success

Furthering her growth, Revathi Kamath rented a small space in Jayanagar for 500 rupees and started her flower business. There were not many sales during the initial days but later picked up rapidly and her business was booming. She later approached HP and many other Multinational Corporations. She also started training people in flower decoration who went on to become highly successful in the art. She later did flower decorations for Marriage, receptions, and many other events.

Supercharging her robust growth momentum, she founded her own event management company called Calyx and turned into a full-fledged event manager. Under her company Calyx, Revathi Kamath did numerous events such as HP product presentations, events of MICO, and BOSCH, in hotels and resorts such as Westend, Leela Palace, Windson Manor, Orange County, Bangalore International Hotel, and many more. Her decorations were widely appreciated for the aesthetic beauty she produced in her work.           

One day Revathi Kamath was called by Bosch General Managers and asked her to do Landscape work which she did not know the definition of. As she told them she had no idea what landscaping was, they gave her a weak to learn. So Revathi Kamath went to a bookstore called Sapna Book House and searched for books about landscaping. There were only 3 books and all were very expensive. So she started reading the book at the store itself and the next day, the store manager offered her a chair to read. A week later she gave a presentation about landscaping work to the general managers of Bosch and that presentation earned her a big project for Landscaping. The house of Albert Heironimus, Managing Director of MICO was her first project for Landscaping and she earned INR 4.5 lakhs with praise showered for her delightful work. This was a launchpad for her career as a Landscape Artist under her company Calyx.

The demand for her talent skyrocketed quickly. Kuvempu University, Mysore University, Tumkur Industrial areas, Cauvery Filtration Unit in Talakadu,  Chinnaswamy Stadium Statue, Windson Manor circle, Domlur Signal, Income Tax Department, Nitesh Lexington Avenue, Hirani Andani projects, US-based CBRE, Heiden, Intel, Citadel Hotel, Goldfinch, Resorts, Farm Houses, Country Club, Hospitals, Dhaba in Sarjapur road, Country Club and many more are some of the best Landscape works in her career. She constantly advanced the growth of her company and worked with builders & architects.

She later worked as a contractor for a company called Site Concept International where she did a project called Elita Horizon which was worth INR 7 Crore. It was one of the landmark Projects in her career.

Revathi Kamath then worked for a company called Peridian where she did 26 ready-structure projects and 23 swimming pools. Further and Further, a company called Jurang hired her where she did one of the most prestigious projects in India for TATA Steel Orissa. Only ten Landscape Artists were shortlisted from India which again was shortlisted to 3 candidates from which Revathi Kamath was chosen to do the Landscape work for TATA Steel in Orissa.

It's about giving back to the society

After 23 years of stellar success as a Floral Artist, Event Manager, and Landscaping Ninja, Revathi Kamath switched her focus to her long-standing concern for tree plantation and Lake Rejuvenation. Just when she looks at people walking on the street under the scorching sun, Revathi Kamath instantly imagines trees lined up giving some shade to those people. That is the compassion Revathi Kamath always had. Thus far, Revathi Kamath has planted more than one lakh trees, and all that by one person, an amazing dedication to the environment that made its place in various newspapers.

It was one of her dreams come true, Revathi Kamath adopted the dying Somanahalli Lake in Kanakapura, Karnataka, and it was an arduous task to bring it back alive. From dead to life, it was time for the lake to look like a beautiful landscape and it did. The news was featured in Indian Express. As a result, the lake brought water to 28 acres of land, 300 borewells, and 200 open wells were recharged. Today Somanahalli lake has made a forest for itself.

Furthering her works as an environmentalist, Revathi Kamath adopted Naganayakanahalli lake in Anekal, Karnataka, Mukond lake, and Katte lake. The Calyx founder has remarkably reshaped the lives around the revived lakes.

Owning to her monumental efforts for the environment, there came a demand for Revathi Kamath’s presence in a major NGO (Non-Governmental Organization or Non-profit organization) called ‘Rally For River’, established by Sadhguru, as one of the Directors. Revathi Kamath is the 7^th Director for Rally For River. The organization has been a game changer for the rivers of India.

Revathi Kamath later went on to adopt a school in Hallegere, Madya, Karnataka. Initially, Revathi Kamath intended to construct a toilet for the school of 350 children but later transformed the school by digitalizing it entirely during the pandemic. US-based IT company Cisco has come forward to aid the school further in its development while Finland-based Nokia has come forward to teach robotics to the children.

During an interview with Icons of Indian Business Magazine, Revathi Kamath quoted, “ In many places in India, a child is sent to school until the child gains enough strength only to discontinue education and be sent off to labor work. This will stop only when the child is educated so that child will educate his children and there will be no child labor in the coming generations of his family,"

Some major plans in the future, the world will witness Revathi Kamath adopting many such schools. Moreover, thousands of tree plantations and forming a stream to flow from Raja Canal to many lakes are on the cards.