Merchant of Hope

  Bauji wanted to expand his business further, so he thought of opening an office in Delhi solely for dispatching goods to Amritsar. He rented a room in Khurshid market for 70 rupees per day. This was when I was still finishing my B.Sc in Amritsar. Surinder and Raj (my younger brothers) went to Delhi on vacation once, and they both had lovely memories of that visit. Babu ji took them to all the sightseeing spots, and it was a beautiful and enjoyable day for them. However, due to some reason, he had to leave his residence and start living in the room to focus on dispatching goods to Amritsar.  

Bauji was a well-organized and disciplined man who had a particular way of doing things. In the summer, he would wear a dhoti & shirt, while in winter, he would wear a pajama & shirt. He adorned his forehead with a clean and well-pressed black cap daily, and his clothes were starched with rice water before ironing. Despite his orthodox views, his relatives loved him for his candid simplicity and clean, slim handsome appearance. Bauji used to travel a lot between Amritsar and Delhi, and during one such trip, Sh. Banarsi Dass ji joked that he should keep a wife in Delhi to solve his cooking problem. This did not go down well with Bauji, who warned Sh. Banarsi Dass never to make such cheap shots at him again. Sh. Banarsi Dass immediately got up from his chair and fell on Bauji's feet asking for forgiveness. When it came to defining his character and class, Bauji drew a line that no one dared to cross. Bauji was very particular about organization, and all his belongings had ...

After being persuaded by Chaiji, Bauji decided to quit working with his business partner Shri Bhagwan Das, where he owned 75% of the share, to create a platform for his growing sons. He settled to give Rs. 5000/= to get out of the partnership, which was more than his earnings for the year. Shri Shadi Lal ji mediated the partnership secession and it was decided that Bauji would donate the equivalent money to any charitable organization without any set timelines. Bauji donated the money to Jain Samaj after three years in memory of Late Bhagwan Dass ji. Since Shri Bhagwan Das had taught Bauji all the tricks of the trade, he felt indebted to him. To start his new venture, Bauji chose a location far from the main market where his mentor ran his shop. He didn't want to be seen as his mentor's competitor. He rented a big shop on a street. It was the only shop on that street. A continuous five-day Pooja was performed by five pundits for the shop's inauguration. I was a ...

In my story,  I would come back to my father often. He was the same person - a constant in every way. But as I went through stages of my own adulthood, I would observe and learn life's different perspectives from him.   With every passing year, I found Bau Ji to be a rare breed of personality: a very religious, truthful, energetic, honest, tireless, contented, but an orthodox man who wouldn't do anything without consulting an astrologer. He cared for his children and was faithful to his principles. His three main principles for running a business were: Akana nahi ( अ कना नहीं) - don't accept failure as final. Keep trying until you succeed. Don't lose interest. Thakna nahi (थकना नहीं )  - work hard and keep going as long as your health allows. Nothing should ever be postponed! Jakana nahi (झकना नहीं) - Shed shyness. No matter how talented, rich, powerful, knowledgeable the person you are interacting with is, stay your grounds. Be confident. Never feel intimated. One of B...

With the current nationalist movement led by Modi in our country, no Indian can fathom setting foot in Pakistan. But I have the fondest memories of my childhood in Sialkot. My memories lingered on long after the unfortunate partition of our country. My maternal family, in Sialkot had a very big house with two stories and eight or nine rooms. There I would get a chance to ride buffaloes daily. Our grandfather had three buffaloes. His son, Shadi Lal would  walk them out and wash them in the nearby canal. I accompanied my uncle daily and got a joy-buffaloes ride daily. It was hands-down one of the most unique experiences in life. All 5 of us (my uncle, I and three buffaloes) enjoyed each other's company fully.  My face had a very striking resemblance to my uncle. Of course, I belonged to him and vice-versa. I would like to believe that I was the most favorite nephew for all my maternal uncles. I never visited our own house in Sialkot. It was left vacant, as our entire family had ...

As I wrote before, my uncle, Tayaji couldn't financially support himself, so he shifted to Verka where the factory was located. He couldn't get married either. He was a very impractical character with a compulsive personality. He was a health freak and he spent all his earnings on maintaining it. He was a San Sangha follower and spent most of his time and money on that. Babuji's sisters often asked Chai ji to get Tayaji married, but Chai ji's reply was plain and practical - "Who would take responsibility for his family?" This would silence Chaji's sister-in-laws. Tayaji remained a bachelor, bearing no responsibility for his own family or his brother's. He felt entitled and lived comfortably off of his brother's support.  When Babu ji opened the second office branch in Delhi, he brought Tayaji along. So when I joined the business in Delhi, Tayaji was already there. After Babuji's return to Amritsar, Tayaji lived with me in 114 Khurshìd Market, S...

  This chapter describes the family during 1947 partition times. It was the toughest time for millions in Punjab. Chaiji had a knack of sensing the opportunities around her. She would grab them effortlessly and swiftly. Our rented house, at the time, did have the electricity connection. But it was very costly, so we had to depend on lanterns. The landlady of the house was tough and rather rude. Chai ji, for her own benefit and ours, chose to ignore landlady's harsh words. Instead, she would routinely give household advice to the landlady on different occasions. The landlady started trusting Chaiji. She started considering Chaiji as an intelligent well wisher, a sincere quasi-mother-in-law. Chai ji took advantage of this new relationship. Chaiji could sweeten any tough situation to her advantage. In the hot summer, Chaiji was invited to sleep in her landlady's drawing room -- under a fan. Luxury! In August of 1947, Babu ji was on a trip to Karachi for some business purpose. Indi...

Bauji belonged to Sialkot, Pakistan. He was a tall, handsome man of principle. He was an illiterate. While I could never find out the reasons behind his lack of education, I never had the courage to ask him either. Bauji had one brother and six sisters, with one of the sisters being younger than him. Three of his sisters died at a young age. His elder brother, Shree Shadi Lal Jain, had the opportunity to attend school, but he was neither sharp nor energetic. When Bauji was just 10 years old, his father, Lala Tek Chand Jain (my grandfather), passed away. Our grandfather had been a moneylender. To support the family, Bauji's's maternal uncle, Shree Brij Lal Jain   brought the entire family to Amritsar. There, our grandmother handed over the reins of the money lending business to the nearest relative, Shree Kanshi Ram Jain, who was the father of Shri Ram Lal Jain, a very influential and prosperous businessman. Shri Brij Lal Jain also enjoyed a very good reputation in s...

After the death of his first wife, Bauji married our mother Smt Tara Devi Jain in 1939. Our mother, Smt Tara Devi Jain, was hardly 17 years old but had a lot of experience in managing a household. Chai ji knew how to read and write Hindi, Punjabi, and Urdu. I learned basic Urdu from her. My mother, Tara Devi, was a homemaker. She belonged to a very wealthy family in Sialkot, Pakistan. Unfortunately, my mother lost her own mother when she was just 7 years old. Our grandfather didn't opt for a second marriage even when it was customary in those times. As a result, she had to help her sister-in-laws at a young age to take care of household. She still managed to pass 5th grade before dropping out of school. Chaiji was not a delicate, demure young girl. She was physically sturdy, perhaps on the heavier side, and very energetic. She had five doting brothers who owned a joint family cloth business. My father's newlywed young wife was dismayed to find that there were hardly ...