SC Bhalla — they don’t make men like him anymore!
Papa! my earliest memories of you are from the time you bought me that chicken game. I guess I was two or three, I don’t remember. You got it because I had fever and you wanted to cheer me up. This single act although very minuscule has defined our relationship of 40 years — you, the giver and I, the taker.
But all these years while growing up, I have realised so many other facets of what made you who you are — Loved, Revered and Adored by everyone around.
First and foremost, you were the most handsome dad any young lad could have. All the girls in my class in NC Jindal Public School used to tell me Tarun your father is so handsome.
Well dashing you were in those moustaches, bellbottoms and checkered suits. The cars you had Ambassador, Padmini Fiat, Maruti 800 made a 10 year old boy very proud — especially in those socialist days of 80's.
From Humble beginnings, come great things!
I also know why you had all these stylish possessions. These told that you had defeated abject poverty and made a place for yourself through all the struggles of life. Of course! how many others would have ventured out at a tender age of 14 to come to the city and live on alms. Who would have thought that this “Bhashi” will do so much with so little.
But Papa gifted with his “Gulaabi” English had other plans. Starting as an apprentice to Mr. Chaman Lal, his first individual project was to install a pneumatic based messaging system at the Taj Hotel in Mumbai. This was his first assignment and he had no clue how to install this German system. But the lesson, given to him by his master, was learnt fast and for ever. He used to say “Sohni ko mahiwal se milne jaana hey to jaana hey” or in other words “You Don’t stop when you are tired, you stop when you are DONE”. For him work came really before God and much more than worship:
The making of an entrepreneur
Of course! he learnt a lot from Mr. Chaman and made his best friend Mr. Deepak Kapoor (Chaman Lal’s son) for life. Once he learnt all his lessons here, he went to work for Snowhite under Mr. Khera as a sales executive. The quintessential go-getter that he was, he got the Snowhite’s Manufacturing unit done in record timing and was made the Go-to man as far as their dry cleaning business was concerned. Not only was he a fantastic employee but a great human being as well. He man’ed the Khera’s (a Sikh) house during 1984 riots when the family was kept in the basement.
Once the sons joined the business, it was my father’s time to run his own show — first as a commission agent for Compact boilers and then partnership with Matharoo Manufacturing Company (MMC) and finally starting his own Company (Bee Kay Agencies). I was an apprentice there when I was in Grade 9th and my love for machines started there.
Improvise, Adapt and Prosper
In the 90’s my father really transformed from a shining salesman to a smart businessman. He improvised from a manufacturer to become a service provider and once he adapted to specialise in the domains of Laundry & Boiler Equipment, he prospered to provide the foundations of my dreams of studying Engineering and pursuing Education abroad.
An entrepreneur raises another entrepreneur
My training of being a fearless entrepreneur started very early — thanks to the environment and freedom provided by my dad. When prepp’ing for IIT, my father used to say “Hoga to Achcha, Nahin hoga to aur bhi achcha” — literally translating fear not the outcome at all. This continued all the time until my US Education till 2003. I made a whole bunch of U-Turns whether it was getting into MS program and then deciding not to go or quitting a job at Wipro when they had filed for my VISA. I literally was trained to believe that I will my write my own destiny.
Protected child? Naa.. that does not happen in Bhalla household
It would have been very easy for my parents to blackmail me to remain with them and make me into another over protected child that Indians very knowingly produce. But it was their collective wisdom and a cousin’s suggestion that when he goes to US, you have to take the monkey (your responsibility) off his back.
Bhallas cannot stay in a golden cage:
Both my parents decided to attend my graduation ceremony in Seattle. Not only was this their first visit to US but it was also a trial to see if they could stay in US with us (Yogita and I). This has been the best time of my life. We traveled to various parts of the US (whether whole of Washington — Orcas, San Juan Islands, Pike Place Market, Aeroplane Museum, Leavensworth or the East Coast — NY City, New Jersey, Niagra Falls or even accidentally crossing the Canadian border). They had a gala time and really liked US — my father’s favourite was cappuccino at Starbucks. They had a fantastic month long tour but before they boarded the plane back to India they said “We really liked America but its a golden cage and we love freedom”.
Our plan to leave US was decided then and there itself.
Who needs a Godfather when you have Mr. Bhalla as your father?
A lot of people have looked at my journey of running Avishkaar and told me that it must be so tough. My answer has always been that it was not tough at all, in fact it would have been very difficult not to take up this journey.
To be honest, a good chunk of this ease has been there because of the emotional and financial support provided by both my parents — especially my father. Whether it was business connections, or paying my bills or contributing to company’s working capital, my father did everything for me. So the truth for me has been that I did not need a God Father cause I had Mr. Bhalla as my father.
Interest is dearer than Principal
Or loosely translated to the fact that grand children are dearer than your own children. Nandini’s biggest reason for crying for daadu has been that who will give love to Ananya and its not fair that she is not getting the same love as Nandini did. This is so true — thinking about everything right from dresses, shoes, the fixed deposits, papa had everything planned for her grand daughters Nandini and Ananya. This is where I feel most scared if I will be able to fill into his shoes for the family — will I be able to care for them, the way papa did :(.
For a giver, family is not just about blood relations
When I was about to perform the last rites for my father in these wretched corona times. My brothers in arms were not any of my blood relatives, it was my father’s long standing partners in crime, his devil brigade as he used to call them — Satish ji, Raj Kumar ji, Jai Veer ji — all his workforce who had been with him for last 30 years. I say while I may be his janam son but his team has been his karm sons. And this was his real wealth in life that people did not care about time, place and situation and considered him as one of their own. This is not only said by his employees but by countless number of people that I have interacted with since the time he left me.
What was he to me?
Actually I really do not know what he meant to me? I loved him so dearly and so much that I never thought even for a minute that he will not be there ever. I think I will now with time realize and find out what he meant to me. Was his giving attitude, his love for people, his courage to persevere and not back down the ones that define him for me or is his cheerfulness or content attitude or something else?
I think my journey of finding who my father was has just begun.
Should I now move on or be strong?
Well every time someone has said to me to be strong, I have had this urge to punch them in the face. Just because I do not want to move on or cut ties with who he was, or box my love with a time stamp on it, I will not become strong. I was raised by him to be a fiercely independent man, I was raised by him to be strong, I was raised by him to honour his legacy forever.
And I will start doing that by announcing my intent to start a foundation in his name:
