RAGS TO RICHES

He came to Chennai, when he was 18 years old. He hailed from a very small village, near Madurai. His name was Kadir.  Kadir was one of the five children, in his family. His father was a very irresponsible man, who squandered the family wealth, abandoned them and vanished from sight. Kadir grew up in poverty. With his mother doing menial work, there was hardly enough food to go around. He too had to work to keep poverty away. Employed during the summer holidays, in a groundnut shelling factory, he ate groundnuts for lunch, to keep hunger at bay. 

Having completed his schooling, with great difficulty, he came to Chennai for employment. He stayed with his elder brother, who had found a job slightly earlier.

He was, employed in a screen printing press. Good looking, with a head full of curly hair, sharp nose, sparkling expressive eyes, and a spontaneous smile, the most impressive feature in him was the tireless energy and involvement with which he worked. He was hard muscled, and very fit.

After his full day at the press, he returned home and printed visiting cards and letterheads for friends and private clients.

He was ambitious, and wanted to be rich, with property, and lead a secure life. To attain this dream, he married  a well to do woman. She was the only daughter of a rich businessperson. Kadir’s  father in law, financed and set up a printing unit for him.

Kadir resigned his job. He had picked up enough business contacts from his erstwhile employer. Many clients shifted alliance to Kadir, whose quality of work matched competitive prices.

Business prospered. One of his clients, a elevator manufacturer wanted to give him an offset printing work, about the Company profile and catalogue. Kadir neither, knew English nor anything about offset printing. He asked my advice as to whether he should try untested waters or withdraw.

I organized a copywriter, a photographer and a layout artist to help him. His client was happy with the results and he got the printing order.  Now that he knew the various steps in offset printing, he got more orders for similar jobs.

He worked day and night, and soon built his own house. With expanding business, he built two more floors. His clientele increased and so did is income.   He was blessed, with two sweet daughters. 

As fate would have it, he crash-landed on his face, in a two wheeler accident. His once handsome face was now grotesque. He was afraid to do reconstructive surgery. He was demoralized, and went to his village to find solace. Nevertheless, the villagers were more bothersome. He rushed back to the city, wherein people were diplomatic and less concerned about others. For over a year, he refused to look at the mirror. Being a fighter, his optimism soon surfaced, and he took the accident in his stride.  Many years later, he told me, that he had forgotten his old face, as he kept on looking at his new face. 

His father in law had purchased a land for him in a remote area in Chennai. He once showed me the property and told me that he was planning to dispose it off, as the adjacent plot owner was trying to infringe into his land. I asked him to build a compound wall around his property, and a small house to safeguard his land.

He did just that, and built a large hall to shift his printing press from a rented place to his own building. Soon he added another floor to the building. In those areas, buildings were constructed lengthwise, wherein the outer walls of adjacent houses, had just an inch gap in-between. 

This proximity presented problems. Late in the night, local boys began using Kaidr’s terrace as an open to sky bar. To prevent the growing nuisance, Kadir added three more houses on the second floor and had family members as tenants. The problem of the open bar thus came to a close.

As his business expanded, he further built a palatial independent house for his family. Now that he had a parking space he purchased a car. He now got monthly rentals from seven families. He got his eldest daughter married to one of his relatives, an employee in the IT industry.  He was blessed with two grandchildren, both girls.

The last I saw of Kadir was in a tea shop. As we drank tea, he was complaining about his low levels of energy and the normal problems of advancing forties. I requested him to take care of his health. His greatest sadness was that he could not speak in English, and that he did not graduate like me. I told him that he was lucky; for had he graduated he would have been a miserable low paid employee, rather than a rich business. He laughed loudly as he saw the co-relation.

He had a family history of diabetes, and hypertension. Kadir seldom paid attention to health. He skipped doses, sometime forgetting to take medications for days at a stretch.

One day while working in his press, he felt a discomfort in his chest. Since it came after his lunch, he dismissed it as gas, and drank a soda to relieve it.

As the pain grew worse, he went to a nearby familiar hospital, in-spite of his employee suggesting a multispecialty hospital as a better alternative. He was diagnosed as having a impending heart attack.  

 By the time he rushed to the multispecialty hospital, he died on the way.

When I heard the news, I felt so sad, about the untimely death. His death could have been avoided, with regular health check up, proper medications, and reviews.

It was a contrast to see his dead body; so silent and still; very different from the active energetic effervescent person I knew.

His wife and two daughters were wailing in agony. I too shed silent tears. 

But he had been a responsible husband and father. His family could live comfortably just by the rentals of the many houses they owned. The property he left behind could help them tide over many financial situations.

I wish he had bestowed the same care on his health as he had had on his business. Had he survived he would have certainly grown further in stature. His story was a very typical one; From Rags to Riches.