Bhujia Barons: The Untold Story of How Haldiram Built a Rs 5000-crore Empire by Pavitra Kumar

Author:Pavitra Kumar [Kumar, Pavitra]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9789386057730
Publisher: Penguin Books Ltd
Published: 2016-07-31T21:00:00+00:00

Capital Gains

In the search for ways to fulfil basic human needs over the millennia, mankind has evolved from being early hunters and gatherers to sophisticated bankers, engineers and doctors. As more of the lowest-level needs were fulfilled, man’s basic requirements rose up Maslow’s pyramid to include intangibles like self-esteem and pride. In the distant past, security had meant shelter against rain and storm, harsh rays of the sun and the bitter cold. It had meant food to survive and a way to keep one’s family safe. With inventions born out of necessities, man evolved from living in a barter society to thriving in modern civilization where paper notes became the form of currency. Above all, man’s survival instinct urged him to protect his own by fortifying his home and his assets.

Well out of poverty, running successful business units that provided the family with ‘a roof over their heads, warm beds to sleep at night and food to fill their stomachs’ as Moolchand would say, was not enough for Haldiram’s grandchildren. They wanted more. More power, more security, more success. Once they knew it could be had, the slight discomfort of growing desires gave them the necessary impetus to throw caution to the wind and follow their hearts on the path to greater triumph. United by the common vision of conquering Delhi, Manoharlal and Shiv Kishan worked together to achieve this goal.

While Manoharlal had been busy bringing the Bikaner business up to standard, his eldest brother, Shiv Kishan had been undergoing his own journey to make something of himself in Nagpur. Having established a successful business in Nagpur, Shiv Kishan was hungry to tap into his own potential and take the Haldiram Bhujiawala brand to greater heights. The brothers began dreaming and building castles in the air as early as 1975. Multiple phone conversations later, Manoharlal and Shiv Kishan met in Delhi to put their money where their mouths were.

In 1976 they took their first step in what they considered a lower risk area, Fatehpur, a small town on the outskirts of Delhi. Through word of mouth, the brothers learnt that a shop owned by J.B. Mangharam, a famous manufacturer of sweets from Gwalior, was becoming vacant. Buying the shop seemed like a great deal at the time, and the fact that the shop was already set up with the right countertops and arrangement to serve as a food-store was very exciting for them. As all things that come easily, this find was too good to be true. Manoharlal gave the owner of that shop ₹30,000 as an advance for booking it and he never saw the shop or his advance ever again. The brothers had been swindled out of their money!

‘We tried moving to Delhi a couple of times and lost our advance money both those times!’ said Manoharlal, amused at their past naivety. While ₹30,000 seems a petty amount to the business magnate today, it was a considerable sum for them in those days. However, the brothers couldn’t give up.

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