I am a simple man. I have two daughters. I live in Mumbai now. Yes, I do have a degree in commerce. But I studied in a Marathi medium school and college. I was a sincere and well-behaved student. I got along with everyone in my class. But there were over 60 students in our class. So the teachers could never give us individual attention. Yes, they did teach well. I could grasp most of the concepts in school and college itself. The main reason for this was probably because everything was taught to us in a language we could understand.
My parents are not very rich. Things like sending me for tuition never occurred to them. They had studied only up to 5th standard so they just wanted me to get a degree.
I was born and brought up in a small quiet town. Most of my senior family members still live there. It was my uncle who asked me if I would join his small business in Mumbai. I knew I would find it difficult to get a job in our small town with the marks that I had scored. So I agreed to help him with his business.
For the first few years, I hated my life in Mumbai. It was dirty and crowded. Always. I had to travel by the local train during peak hours. Initially, I was scared to even get into the trains. But I didn’t have much of a choice. I knew I had no future in my small town. If I wanted to create a good life for myself, I had to stick around in Mumbai, live and work with my uncle.
It took me 6 months to understand that my uncle was struggling with his business. He would consistently apply for small bank loans to keep his business afloat. I could see him leading a frugal life. We had to work for long hours to cater to the demands of our customers. We would often sell the stuff that we bought from wholesale markets for extremely small profits.
Our hard work paid off. Within a couple of years, we were able to set up a small kirana store. We were happy that we finally had a small shop of our own now. Business was not always brisk though. New small marts were coming up in our locality and people preferred to shop in the air-conditioned comfort of these marts. They would sell everything in their stores for less than the MRP. We could not afford to do that. So only people who wanted to buy a few assorted items would visit our shop. But it was better than what my uncle and I used to do earlier.
It was at this time that I got married. I was blessed with two lovely daughters within the next five years. But I could never spend much time with them. I would leave home at 8 a.m. and return home at 9- 9.15 p.m. My uncle and I would take turns to work on Sundays. So every alternate Sunday, I would spend the entire day with my family. We would go to Juhu and have our dinner by the beachside there. I would get up early every day, dress up my girls for school and wait with them at the street corner till their rickshaw came to pick them up. I could never attend any of their PTAs or take care of their academics in any way.
I was totally focused on building our business. It took us nearly a decade and a half to pay off all our outstanding loans. Even today, we spend a major part of our profits in expanding our business. We bought the shop adjacent to ours recently and use it as a makeshift storeroom now. We will consider renovating our entire shop in a year or so.
Our clientele has increased now. The thing about Mumbai is that there is space for everyone. We do face stiff competition from those malls and marts. But there as many people who buy several assorted things on their way home too. Yes, like all businesses we too have our fair share of financial ups and downs. But we can now afford to hire one helper to help us around our shop too. My uncle and I are now able to take all Sundays off and look forward to it too.
I did not want my daughters to struggle in life like me. So I was very particular about putting them in good English medium schools. I bought them a bicycle when they were old enough to ride one and I remember teaching them cycling late in the nights or early in the mornings. When we went out on Sundays, I would feel happy when I could buy them all the things that they craved for or wanted. At such times I felt my hard work was worth it. I loved seeing them smile and felt proud when they topped in their class.
I know I have not been a great father to them. There was a lot more that I could have done for them. I was rarely ever at home during their growing up years. I was so involved in our business. We were totally focused on repaying our loans at that time.
I do regret not being there with them more often. But I also know that I can keep them in comfort only if I work hard and focus on my business. These are compromises that almost all men have to make these days. Running a business especially in Mumbai is not cakewalk anymore. It is a question of “survival of the fittest” here. So we just need to toughen ourselves to the harshness of reality and be content with the time that we get to spend with our families.
My wife and daughters understand this. Very well. We have got used to this lifestyle now. So we don’t have any complaints or regrets or feel guilty about such things.