Journey of Premanth Thombare…..
I was born in a small village called Bhowade, District Rantagiri. In those days, there was no transport available, no proper roads, no proper school and colleges in our village. I was born to a very poor family in year 1970, we were 6 siblings, my father and mother used to work as daily wage works in farms which belonged to others and earn their livelyhood. They used to live on their day to day meager earnings and it was difficult to make both ends meet with 6 siblings to feed. There were days when there was no food to cook and eat in our house, we used to eat Jackfruit to fill our stomach. During my childhood days all the village children used to play, but in my case, I did not have the privilege to play with the children because I had to do different kinds of labour jobs to help my family. We did not have proper clothes to wear nor footwear, we use to walk bear feet and sometimes thorns and stones poking me. I used to walk 8 to 10 kms from my house to pluck Kadipata leaves and sell them in my village. In those days, I use to sell I kg Kadipata for just 50 paise. I used to carry 50 kgs at a time on my head and that was highest carrying capacity of a child, at times I used to be rewarded with RS 5 which had lots of value in my village. Inspite of all the difficulties and hardship, I still managed to complete my 10th standard in my village itself. My family had lots of debts to clear and it was just not possible to work in the village and clear these debts. I thought for a while and decided that the only way I can clear my family’s debts is by going out of my village and working in the city.
So my 2nd innings started when I moved to Mumbai, the city of Dreams in 1988. Since I did not have any place to stay, I stayed with my cousin brother and used get a salary of RS 90 per month. Within 6 months I got a job as a housekeeper in a company called ‘Hinditron Computers Pvt.Ltd’ which was dealing in computers, with a monthly salary of RS 600 p/m. Since I always had a keen on learning new things, I was automatically attracted towards computers. I started to learn and slowly started to work on computers. Even after my working hours, I used to sit and work on computers for long hours. Slowly and steadily, I started teaching basic computers to those children in my area who could not afford. Soon I started teaching basic computer courses in small institutes and started earning some extra income. In the year 1995, I joined another IT Software company called ‘Onward Novel India Pvt. Ltd’ as an Assistant Peon for a monthly salary of RS 1,300/- there I met Mr. Samir Shroff who acted as my godfather and supported in everything I did. I was also fortunate enough to meet another dynamic personality called Mr. Anil Noronha who mentored, groomed and motivated me. I managed to scale great heights only because of Mr. Anil Noronha. Few years later at Onward Novell, a new Administration Manager joined the company and under his guidance I learnt many new things in Administration and mastered the subject. Because of his trust in me, he gave me a free hand to do all the purchases in the company. This helped me to build up my data base with all manufactures and whole sellers. While Mr Wency Pereira was my Boss, he always treated me like a friend and involved me in all the Admin activities. It was at Onward Novel again that I became good friends with Ramesh Suvarna and Anil Shah who was always guided and motivated me in opening up my own Business. In year 2005 I decided to quit Onward Novell to pursue new challenges. On my last working day, our great CMD Mr. Harish Mehta(we fondly called him Harisbhai), a down to earth person called me in his cabin and gave me 2 visiting cards, one personal and the other official. He said to me if I ever needed money or a job, to just pick up the phone and call him, he would always be there for me whenever I needed him.
I Joined ‘TribhovandasBhimjiZaveri Ltd’ (TBZ) as Purchase and Admin Head, for the company. There were 800 staff in the company and I worked from 2005 to 2008. I got a better opportunity to work for a company called‘AB Cartridge Pvt. Ltd’ The owner of the company and my Guru Mr. Anil Bhadhuria, a self-made man, very hardworking and a visionary. I joined the company as ‘General Manager’ of the group, he had complete faith and trust in my capabilities. This gave me the confidence to give my best and do big ticket saving for the company. During my tenure in this company, I received more than 25 awards. All this was possible only because of the help, support and blessings I got from my special friends.
Mr. Bhadhuria introduced me to new ventures and also boosted me to do something on my own. It is only because of the support of my friends I am successfully surviving in this competitive world.
I am grateful and thank each of my mentors, my gurus, my friends, my vendors and my dear customer who have always supported me through thick n thin.
Even though I am fairly successful in my business, I have not forgotten my earlier struggling days so I have starting doing a bit of charity. I want to help the under privilege children in my own little way. I have already donated Cupboards, English Dictionary and few computers to the school in my village, I have also given decent donation to Dr. Baba Amte ‘s cause,Rotary Club and Anat Ashram in Malad. God willing, will do many more in future too.
