What follows here is a reconstruction of the tale of Dilip Mandal, a Bihari migrant whose story was recently narrated in a news report in the Ludhiana press:
Dilip Kumar Mandal landed in Ludhiana as an 18-year-old in 1981 with
Rs 2 in his pocket. He came from Purnia in Bihar and wanted to make a
new life in Ludhiana. Unlike many other migrants he came alone and was
not brought there by a contractor, a relative or a village mate. With no
money or resources, he slept at the city railway station.
30 years after his arrival, Mandal is now the owner of a cycle spare
parts manufacturing factory with an annual turnover running into crores.
His company is named DK and Sons Industries. Ludhiana has a large
migrant population most of whom come from Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and other
parts of the country. Most of them eke out a meagre living and send
their savings home. But Mandal’s success story is something of an
exception – that of a common labourer turning into an entrepreneur!.
Mandal came to Ludhiana after completing his Class X looking for
work. ”I can never forget the first two days here… I slept on the
railway station platform and ate buns with the Rs 2 that I had,” he
recalls. On the third day, he was approached by a contractor asking him
if he wanted to do some manual labour, to which he agreed. For one year,
he polished tools used in cycles and managed to get a place to stay at
the factory itself. In 1982, he was made in charge of the polishing
department. ”Two years after that, I left my job and purchased two
machines and set up my own business,” Mandal says.
Mandal never looked back after that. ”I would go to the factory at
6am and return not before 9pm,” he reminisced. With luck by his side,
Mandal kept expanding his business. When he got married in 1990, the
foremost thing on his mind was to provide a clean environment to his
family. And so, he purchased land for his house in 1990. The year 2003
marked a new phase in the industrialist’s life when he set up a factory
on his own land. ”Three of my four houses have servant quarters so that
those employed do not have to lead insecure lives. No migrant must sleep
on the platform,” he said.
As Mandal’s father had passed away when he was still a little boy,
the businessman took over the responsibility of bringing up his four
younger siblings. While the brothers were helped to set up businesses,
the sisters had to be married off. ”When I started this business in
1984, the company’s turnover was Rs 10 lakh but now it is over Rs 1
crore.” His firm now manufactures brakes for bicycles.
”I wish my son Prashant takes forward the enterprise that I so lovingly set up and venture into exports,” Mandal said.
Today, Mandal has a flourishing business and four houses in the city.
Although Mandal manufactures brakes for the bicycles, his own life has
known no stops!
Posted by Team Bihardays on Jul 6th, 2011
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