We are who we are because of our Forefathers- 2

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REPLY ADDRESS BY MR. DINSHAW B AVARI ON THE OCCASION TO COMMEMORATE HIS 85th BIRTHDAY on NOV 5, 1987-

“I want to tell you that I was very ambitious and hard-working and I used to go down to an  Irani  Restaurant after office hours, sit at a table and would call the people in the room to come and have Tea and biscuits with me (at my cost of course). Remember that the charges for this was One Anna per person. Round about 10 persons used to join me every day and I used to give them a lecture on the advantages of Life Insurance. Do you know that, by my offering them tea and Biscuits and giving them lectures, seven persons out ten would agree to insure their lives with me and the very next day, I used to take them to Doctor Adi Kohiyar, the leading physician of Bombay in the early morning at 7.00 a.m. for Life Assurance Examination. This tactic of mine resulted in generating the largest amount of Life Assurance sold in any one month, in the whole of Bombay Presidency among the entire field of Life Assurance workers of Bombay.

I never knew the cumulative effect of 30 days work but one fine morning in 1929 Mr. H. Chamberlain, the Manager of the Bombay Branch, came to my Department and asked me to go to Sir Phiroz Sethna.  Sir Sethna was a terror in the office because he would not talk but roar. My body started trembling while I kept standing outside the room of Sir Phiroz Sethna.

Sir Phiroz Sethna called me in and told me that Mr. Chamberlain wanted me to be in the field work as an Insurance Agent. I refused to accept because at that time, I was getting a Commission Income of Rs. 500/- per month plus a salary of Rs 150/- per month with the status of being the Chief Accountant. Sir Phiroz Sethna told me 'I am increasing your salary to Rs. 500/- per month'. I immediately jumped at it and said, 'I am prepared to go anywhere in the whole of India'. He gave me three options. Either to be the Unit Manager at Ahmadabad or Nagpur or Karachi.

I promptly accepted Karachi!”

(to be contd.)

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