Bhadresh Baldev

1969 was a very remarkable year for me. It was the peak of the Separate Telangana Agitation and many students were faced with the prospect of losing the year. I was studying at St. George’s Grammar School in the 9th Standard. The school was in the heart of Hyderabad. I grabbed the opportunity to join the Hyderabad Public School. I was a day scholar in the Nagarjuna House (I have therefore missed a lot of the things which my boarder friends have been so fondly remembering.)

This became a turning point in my life, due to the glaring difference in the curriculum and the teaching methods between the schools. I enjoyed witnessing the quizzes which were so interesting and informative, thanks to the inimitable and irrepressible Mr. Chandrashekhar. It encouraged me to take interest in various subjects which were not part of the regular study. I still remember the words of Mr, Watsa on my first day in the assembly – “Time Flies”’- he said. How true it is, when we sit back and reminisce today after all these years. I was not very good at games so I joined the school band and played the saxophone. Not to forget the special treats we got at the evening tea. I was a Sergeant in Air Wing B and we had gone to camp to Dharwad. After the 14 km route march, I felt feverish. So, I went to the MI room and the doctor said that I seem to be having some infection in my upper incisor. This worsened the next day so I was admitted to the hospital. That is the time I realised what family and friends mean.

After school I joined Vivek Vardhini College for B. Com. I couldn’t get admitted to any other college since we were affiliated to the Cambridge Board and thus considered foreign students who were at the bottom of the list for admission. Coming from a traditional Gujarati trading family, a graduation was the ultimate thing in academics.

I have been on a roller coaster as far as my career is concerned. I joined my family business but soon was sent to Mumbai as an apprentice to learn some other business and maybe set up shop there. I had the opportunity to look into different markets since I had joined an import licence brokerage firm. Then the family took over a sick bread manufacturing unit in Hyderabad.

We turned the unit around and took it to great heights, but we had to part with our partners due to a partition in their family. So, I was back to my family business of automobile spare parts which I continue to run.