Ramjibhai
reached Calcutta, but the question arose as to what he was to do. He spoke to
Jivanlal about this. In his own characteristic way Jivanlal asked him, “Do you
want to make quick money or are you interested in hawking aluminium utensils?”
Quick witted Ramjibhai understood the intent of the question, that to earn real
wealth one has to have a spirit of adventure and be willing to take a risk.
Understanding that his future would be based on his answer, he at once replied,
“Hawking.” This was the answer that Jivanlal wanted to hear and their
friendship became even stronger. From the very next day they started hawking aluminium
vessels in Calcutta. Ranchodbhai did not like this.
They
bought utensils from wholesalers, and loaded them onto handcarts. Shouting, “Silver
vessels for sale,’ they both roamed the streets of Calcutta. Initially, they
found the work hard, but slowly they got used to it and as their earnings
increased, they also started liking the work. On Sunday the shops were shut, so
they would arrange their wares on the small veranda outside a shop and sell the
goods from there.
They
used to stock and sell aluminium utensils manufactured by the companies of
Voolvar Hampton, Lallubhai Amichand and Anant Desai.
As
their income increased, Ramjibhai thought of establishing a shop. He suggested
this to Jivanlal, who was happy to agree immediately. They set up a small shop
in Vipluvi Ras Bihari Basu Road, which was then known as Canning Street. They
still continued hawking the utensils in other areas of Calcutta, but now they
worked in turns. When Ramjibhai and Jivanlal went on their rounds, the shop was
managed by Jivanlal’s brother, Harakhchand and in the afternoon, Ramjibhai
managed the shop while Harakhchand and Jivanlal hawked their goods.
Ramjibhai
and Jivanlal stopped taking their meals in the hotel and started cooking for
themselves. Even though their income increased, they maintained their same
simple, self-sufficient lifestyle. And gradually their self reliance grew.
After
about a year and a half, in 1913, when Jadavben joined him, he took a small 8
foot by 8 foot room in ‘Churchwalli Kothi’
(a residence or building near a church) in Pollack Street. Jivanlal also took a
similar room and started his life as a householder. After two years they both
shifted to larger rooms in Hindustan
Mills Kothi.
In
1912, the Prince of Wales came to India from England. On this occasion the
demand for aluminium utensils was so great that they earned a large amount of
cash daily.
As
business increased they arranged to purchase goods from Mumbai. Although they
only got 2 percent commission on their merchandise, they could afford to do
business at this rate because goods and cash changed hands rapidly. They came
to know that the utensils manufactured by the Indian Aluminium Company in
Madras, now known as Chennai, were of good quality and very popular and so took
an agency for this company for three months on a trial basis. Because of this
Harakhchandbhai shifted to Madras. This agency benefitted both Ramjibhai and
Jivanlal. The reason being that due to the war, goods could not be transported
from Mumbai to Calcutta. So whatever goods came from Madras, were in great
demand, not only in Calcutta, but also in Mumbai.
In
the meantime, factories that manufactured weapons required aluminium ingots.
They sent a message to Ramjibhai and Jivananlal asking them about the quantity
of ingots available with them. Jivanlal replied saying, “We have as many as you
need.” Jivanlal could say this confidently because he knew that large
quantities of aluminium were being imported at Rajmahendri. His idea was to acquire
the aluminium from there, but the problem was arranging for the money to do so.
However, Jivanlal was able to solve this difficulty. He had good relations with
Gazdar Company in Calcutta, and offering to share 50 percent of the profits
with them, he sent Ramjibhai to Calcutta to collect the goods. On receiving the
order from the government, he was able to immediately dispatch the required
goods.
Shri
Purshottam Jhinabahi Pathak, from Chorwad, was also invited to join them in
their business. He was studying commerce, and had been sponsored by Shri
Amrutlal Padhiyar, on Ramjibhai’s recommendation. It was necessary to obtain a
certificate, testifying to the quality and utility of the goods supplied to the
government. Such a certificate was available with a Jewish company. However,
this company was located in Shimla, so Ramjibhai had to go there. Whenever he
went to Shimla, he would procure orders for other items.
At
one time the government required the metals, zinc and antimony. Ramjibhai
collected samples of the required metals from Calcutta and sent them to the
Japanese company, Masuda, through an Indian broker, Namidas. He ordered five
ingots of each metal from there. Having had them tested by experts, he sent
them to the weapons factory which gave him good orders.
During
this time Ramjibhai also came to know from the newspapers, that America and
Japan were trading aluminium through a barter system. Acting on this
information, Ramjibhai sent Damodar Parmanandas Desai to Japan to study the
possibilities of importing the goods from there. He obtained permission to
import aluminium goods into India from Japan. America was not supplying
aluminium to India, so Ramjibhai obtained the required amount of goods from
Japan, stocked them at Rajmahendri, and started supplying them to the
government. Shri Desai stayed in Japan for about a year and a half, and
returned with large quantities of aluminium ingots and aluminium powder, and established
a thriving business.
During
the war years, Ramjibhai and Jivanlal, supplied large quantities of aluminium utensils
and other goods to the government and did good business. Unfortunately however,
circumstances forced them to shut down this flourishing business. Some unscrupulous
Marwadi firms were very corrupt in their dealings with the government, which
was totally unacceptable to Ramjibhai and Jivanlal. Rather than surrender to
such methods of doing business, they decided to totally change their outlook and
do something entirely different that would bring about prosperity in their
enterprise. They got the idea of starting a factory to manufacture aluminium
articles, and seizing the moment they invested the money they had saved and
went from commerce to industry. Calcutta’s Gazdar Company, had great respect
for both the friends, because of their honesty. The company realized that they
had both expertise and insight, and had full faith in their capabilities. So
when Ramjibhai and Jivanlal put forward the idea of starting their own industry
and putting up a factory to this end, the company accepted it immediately and with
the company’s help, they put up a factory at a cost of one and a half lac
rupees in Calcutta They bought the required machines from a Jain merchant in
Calcutta, known as “Ustad,” and
employed an engineer who had been with the Indian Aluminium Company. They were
also able to contact the National poet, Zaverchand Meghani and appointed him as
the head of the factory. Jivanlal and Ramjibhai started the factory in
partnership, and Jivanlal’s brother, Harakhchand also joined them.
Jivanlal
and Meghanibhai both went to England and acquired an agency from the British
Aluminium Company, for the whole of India. The agency was for aluminium moulds
from which utensils could be directly cast. They employed about two to three
hundred workers and started their factory. This was the beginning of a glittering
career in industry, the start of their future as industrialists. The factory
ran in full swing for about two years. Since they made a good profit, Ramjibhai
thought of retiring and actually did so in December, 1919. But Jivanlal’s
affection for Ramjibhai was very strong and he could not bear the fact of
Ramjibhai leaving the factory and being totally separated from him. So
with loving persistence he insisted that
Ramjibhai continue and even increased his share in the factory.
During
this time, on the 6th April, 1918, Jadavben gave birth to Ramjibhai’s
first son, Poonamchandbhai, in Amreli. When Poonamchand was two years old, both
Ramjibhai and Jadavben had a strong desire to travel around India, so along
with the child and accompanied by Harakhchand they started off on their
journey. First they went to Jaganathpuri. From there they went on to Bogh Gaya,
via Samet Shikhar. Then after visiting Kashi, also known as Varanasi, they went
on to Delhi, Ambala, Agra, Fatepur Sikhri, Mathura, Vrindavan and other places,
they also went to Lahore and Karachi. They had taken a cook along with them, so
they had good hygienic food and they also travelled in comfort. Although quite
well to do, Ramjihai did not display his wealth during his travels. He and his
family, travelled simply with pure intentions. From Karachi, Ramjibhai and his
family went by steamer to Porbunder, the birth place of Mahatma Gandhi, the
father of our nation, and from there by train to Chorwad.
Hansrajbhai
bought a new house in Amreli and started renovating it. Ramjibhai decided to
stay in Chorwad until the renovation was completed, so he bought a house there
for Rs.17,000. Poonamchand had now started to go to school. Along with the
house, Ramjibhai had also bought the small piece of land on which it stood. Later,
when Ramjibhai moved to Amreli, this house and land were bought by Jivanlal.
However, before that, Ramjibhai’s second son, Raskibhai was born in Chorwad on
3rd May, 1920.
The
seed of nationalism that grew in Ramjibhai’s mind was planted in Amreli.
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