THROUGH COURAGE TO VICTORY- THE BIRTH OF A TEA BROKING COMPANY
And the years have indeed gone rushing by us - and most of us have lost our starry notions on the way - but memories suffice to remind us that there was hope, and there still is, and affection binds us through the years. Let us keep them, softly, carefully, between the pages of nostalgia
In December, 1989 Mr. Rajiv Krishan Puri resigne
d from Carritt Moran & Company Pvt Ltd. He joined Barooah and Associates as a Senior Branch Manager, Tea Brokers Pvt Ltd, Siliguri and worked there till 1991. In 1991 , in collaboration with his elder brother-in-law Mr. Nijhawan and his elder brother , Ratindra K. Puri a decision was taken to start their own business. Perhaps, it was Mr. Rajiv Puri’s dream to prove, not only to himself and his family, but, also to his old colleagues in Carritt Moran and the Tea Industry that it was possible to put up an alternate Company that could successfully challenge the likes of J. Thomas and Carritt Moran in the arena of Tea Broking by providing efficient, transparent and top quality personalized service backed by dependable statistics and on-line data in the form of web-sites, sms messaging, garden visits, inter-active tasting sessions and 24 x 7 availability to solve any problem, be it at the behest of any of the major stake-holders in the Industry. Having taken the decision, the process of applying for a Tea Broker and Auctioneer’s Licence from Tea Board started in earnest coupled with the setting up of the Company that would be the vehicle through which the operations of selling tea in Public Auctions would be done. For this purpose, we were lucky. On the one hand you had Mr. Rajiv Puri who had , for 18 years, honed his skills in tea broking and auctioning in Carritt Moran and who was familiar with the teas from the gardens located in the Terai/Dooars in and around Siliguri. Puri, with his commitment, hard work, passion, and eye for detail and for being willing to walk that extra mile in order to secure the business and keep a satisfied client was the ideal person to oversee the marketing side of the fledgling company. On the other hand, you had Mr. Ratindra Puri, an Ex- Grindlays Bank Manager, to assist with advice on financial / banking matters, and, to top it all off, Mr. Nijhawan, Retired Chairman and Managing Director of Andrew Yule & Company, who, with his vast knowledge and experience of over 40 years in running large Companies , was available to set up the Company, introduce proper systems and accounting platforms, ensure compliance with all Statutory /ROC regulations, adherence to Company Secretarial matters, legal compliances and audits. This was a Team that was a winning combination right from the start.