A Bright Soul Can Lift Many Others
This is the story of a hardworking man, down to earth and responsible man who was not able to fulfill his dream of education due to family and financial restraints, but it didn’t stop him to ensure that his children reach great heights of success.
Born in a big family of 11 in Rajasthan, he was the eldest of three sons. While completing his primary education he knew he needed to do something to assist his father to put food on the table. Money was tight and he made his decision to drop out of school after class 8 and sought work outside the comfort of his home state. Following a lead from a friend, about work available in a tire shop at Ludhiana, he didn’t blink twice and jumped at the opportunity.
He took off from Rajasthan with little money and his parent’s blessings to start off his first job as a tyre repair worker. Learning as much as he could on the Job, He worked hard to support his parents and save money for starting his own workshop. I recall my grandma saying “May God bless everyone with a son like him”.
A couple of years after working with the Tyre industry giant of the time, daddy had enough money to rent a shop for tire repairs. This was the steppingstone for his dream workshop. This is when he got married to my mother, who is the perfect partner for him in every way. My mum was always very supportive and proved so when the time came to donate her kidney to my father. I still find it amazing that my mother and father never hid anything from each other. They are made for each other types or in other words soulmates.
My dad, Being the first person to start a business in his entire family, never stepped back from helping his siblings. From getting his 6 sisters married to giving jobs to unemployed relatives, he earned a tag of being a problem solver for everyone be it their financial issues or personal.
In a short few years of putting his experience of business into his own work, he bought the land to build his very own tyre re-treading factory at a very prominent location near Ludhiana bus stand. His great people skills and knowledge paid off in getting him new clients.
With every passing year, he made sure that my siblings and I are getting good grades at school and spent time with us to pass on the essential life skills to them. As we grew, so did his work and contacts. His relationships with clients and quality of work impressed many and brought him a lot of business admirers who would be permanent clients when he expanded his work and started the second factory. By buying more machines, more manpower, he was able to ensure that all the money earned is well spent towards our education. He also bought the franchisee for MRF which helped him expand his business presence and buy the latest machines.
Keeping a balance between work and home life, My father would never shy away from attending our parent-teacher meetings, school functions, college selection interviews, selection of courses, and all those pickups and drop-offs to colleges. Though he wasn’t big on lecture talks, it was mum’s cup of tea but we always knew, be it good or bad times, he’ll be there for us.
We didn’t have to worry about him watching out for us. He was always welcoming and his smile made our day. In all these years, I feel, he always knew what the right thing was to do. He knew how to fight where needed, be it people telling him not to get higher education for his daughters or keeping daughters confined to home. Thank god for him, we never felt we were treated any different than our brothers. His open-mindedness taught us that everyone deserves respect and the right to choose what they want regardless of their gender, religion, or beliefs.
In the end, I would like to conclude that there might be a lot of excuses and constraints for people to settle for less and let go of their dreams but My father proved that with ambition and persistence, you can not only achieve what you want for yourself but also shape future of those around you. With his blessings and guidance, we 4 are well settled here and abroad. Each one of us is contributing in the fields of engineering, manufacturing, transportation, real estate, and teaching. My brothers and elder sister are in Australia and I am here in Chandigarh. I wish we had more time to be with him and that he was still here to teach his grandkids the same values as he taught us. May God bless his soul.
•A proud daughter of a hard-working Father.
