A child bride at 12, Saroj was ceremoniously taken to her husband’s home in one of Mumbai’s myriad slums. Trapped, tormented and tortured by her husband and his family, she returned home in less than a year. At an age where most girls in the city were tackling books and exams, Saroj was battling judgemental villagers and their hurtful taunts, much of which insinuated that the failed marriage was her fault. In desperation, Saroj downed three bottles of poison, but was saved by her aunt. The failed suicide attempt, however, turned her life into the success story that it is today.
At 16, she returned to Mumbai. This time she packed some luggage, no emotional baggage, and an indomitable spirit.
A small job at a hosiery factory sparked a latent entrepreneurial streak in her. “I realised I could earn Rs 10 stitching
one blouse. I thought if I could stitch four blouses a day, I could make Rs 40‚ which would amount to about Rs 1,000 a month, and this was a lot of money in those days. I took a bank loan of Rs 50,000, invested in a sewing machine and a few other things to set up my first venture, a boutique business,” she says. She then forayed into furniture and even construction. “I had studied only till ninth standard, so getting a government job was not an option. Being the eldest child, I considered it my
duty to look after my parents and siblings.
So I worked hard for it,” revealed
the feisty, yet soft-spoken, chairperson
of Kamani Tubes.
The modest businesswoman believes
that she had time on her side, which
worked well with her principles, her
inner strength, fearlessness
and hard
work.
It is probably this
courage that held her
in good stead, even
when she had to complain to Sonia
Gandhi about a corrupt local Congress
leader, or discuss her company finances
with the then finance minister.
“Sometimes, all this surprises me.
There is no denying I have worked for
it, but not letting fear hold me back
has taken me a long way on this journey,”
says Saroj, who is part of the
management board of more than 20
companies today.
Along with business, she soon became
the voice of the marginalised in
her area.
In 2000, a few hopeful workers of
Kamani Tubes Ltd, a manufacturer of
copper alloy tubes and rods/sections,
approached Saroj to rescue the company
which was on the verge of liquidation.
She was resurrecting a company
lying closed for over 17 years, weighed
down by a debt of Rs 116 crore, salary
and provident fund dues of over 500
workers, over 170 court cases, a company
which was registered as a sick
industrial unit under SICA and in the
Board for Industrial and Financial Reconstruction
(BIFR).
Most entrepreneurs would have
shied away instantly from this disaster
area. But Saroj took up the challenge.
“I met representatives of the banks,
the BIFR and the
government. Their
brief was simple—
if I wanted to help,
I could pay Rs 2.5
crore and take
charge of the company.
That is what
I did,” she says.
Her sharp business
acumen was
put to the test
when she studied
the company’s
problems. She realised
that the debt had built up because
of interests and penalties, so
she approached the finance minister
in 2005 and requested that it be
waived off.
“My argument was that if the company
goes into liquidation, the banks
would get nothing. But since I was
trying to turn the firm around, if the
penalties were waived, it would be
possible for me to repay at least the
principle amount,” says Saroj. Her request
was granted and the liabilities
came down to about Rs 45 crore.
Her next agenda were the litigations.
The company was finally released from
BIFR in June 2011.
But how did she manage with no
formal education in either finance or
law?
“I hired a good team,” she laughs,
adding that after so many years of
running Kamani Tubes, she has become
half a chartered accountant and lawyer.
Extensive restructuring saw the company
gradually limping back to normalcy,
improved production and a better
distribution network.
She was soon able to pay off workers
as well as the dues of the original
owner, Navinbhai Kamani.
Today, her portfolio includes Kamani
Tubes, Kamani Steel, a sugar factory
and a booming construction business.
Despite the wealth, why does she
still choose to live in Kalyan, a lesser
known part of Mumbai?
Her retort is quick and nonchalant,
“I want to continue working for society,
and if I moved to Churchgate or some
such place, my people would find it
difficult to get in touch with me.”
Not only has Saroj not forgotten
her past, but today ensures that the
path is simpler for the next generation.
This is one of the reasons she started
the Kalpana Saroj College of Law in
Kalyan. Though the college is currently
not functioning and awaits permissions
from the bar council, she explains,
“There is so much crime and injustice
in our society that we need more
good lawyers fighting for the marginalised.”
The sexagenarian also plans
to fly further afield with an aviation
academy in Nagpur.
In a country where women are slowly
asserting their presence over their
male counterparts, the recipient of
the prestigious Rajiv Gandhi Award
for Woman Entrepreneurs says, “This
is the best time for women to move
ahead. It is not like when I started off
all those years ago.”
