banshatirblog

[banshatirblog]

Nana Ambole

by Warren Picardo

I have never been associated with any political party, nor have I ever known a politician personally. Nana Ambole has been my friend for 15 years and continues to be my friend regardless of his influential rise in the world of politics. He is one of the most approachable politician I have ever met, hence this article has been possible. I met Nana at 11:15 pm at his Parel office, he looked tired but since he committed to discuss this article, he obliged and what i was about to know will change my perception about Nana, Politics, Shiv Sena and BJP forever.

Parel

A small confused place which doesn't know it's own speciality. It has so much to offer. Five star ITC hotel, fancy restaurants, ad agencies, corporate offices, endless hospitals and filled with opportunities. 20 years ago the story was different. Parel was at its notorious best, flocked by gangsters, roaming like rockstars, mill workers and employees that were struggling to make ends meet. The biggest dream in Parel back then was to have a successful heart surgery or get your kids married. Thinking about having a vacation would be a audacious plan. This mentality had to change and Parel had to be a better place. There was a sense of change in people, however nobody dared to experiment. There was a small group of people trying different things and in those people was Nana Ambole.

Early life

Nana was ambitious from a very young age. He always wanted to do things differently and believed he could make Parel a better place. He had a vision but didn't have a path. He ventured into small business (Smiles) and tells me that, all those businesses were a disaster and he faced heavy losses. Determined to still make a difference to Parel, Nana joined Shiv Sena as a karyakarta, 30 years ago and this move would change Nana's life forever.

Shiv Sena

(Nana with his wife)

Shiv Sena has a huge influence on Parel and continues to have it till date. Parel is called, Shiv Sena's Quilla (Fort). Shiv Sena is guaranteed a victory in BMC & Vidhan Sabha election. Most people in Parel are Shivsainiks and so was Nana Ambole. Nana has been with Shiv Sena for 29 years of his 30 years political carrier. Nana was a dashing poster boy for all Shiv Sena propogranda in Parel. His work for the party, were highly appreciated by local Shakha Pramukh, Nagar Sevak, Local MLA and fellow Shivsainiks. He was slowly but surely showing signs of a true leader and finally after 18 years of dedicated service to the party, Nana was given ticket for BMC election from Parel constituency from ward no 198, which he won handsomely. Dream of making Parel a better place was finally taking shape and the sailor of that ship was Nana. He was Nagar Sevak for 10 years in which Nana has made Parel a better place to live, visit, invest and prosper. The Parel that you see now is a Parel that is build by hard work and dedication of Nana Ambole and Shiv Sena together. Since, Parel is surrounded by hospitals and patients, Nana has helped endless people fight death, sponsored operations, given away free medicines, spoken to doctors personally in critical situation, made a team to help and guide, poor people.. In the course of ten years as Nagarsevak, Nana has also held other influential post like Best Chairman, KCYM trustee and Prabhak Samiti Adhyaksha and all these roles had given Nana a reality check that he can have a far bigger impact on this society. Meanwhile Nana was continuously working on developing Parel and areas around Parel that were in his constituency. Funds were released for various religious activities like Navrartri & Holi. Free books were being distributed to school kids. Buildings got funds for repairs and maintenance. New redevelopment projects were starting in Parel and people believed that, they too can live in a 1 BHK instead of a small 180 sq feet Chawl room. Accessibility to Nana was the key, why a lot of projects were heard and Completed. Everybody could see, that this man can really deliver his promises and due to which he won the second term as well and continued his good work. Nana being a Nagar Sevak was delivering MLA level outputs.

Split with Shiv Sena

All good things come to an end and Nana's relation with Shiv Sena was about to end after 29 years. Ward no 198 was changed to ward no 203 which allows only a women candidate to contest election from this ward. Nana suggested that his wife gets a ticket instead of him which was swiftly turned down by the party and other Shivsainiks as his wife was inexperienced in politics. Nana believed that a new Nagarsevak will take at least 2 years to understand her role and this would hamper the development of his constituency. On the other hand his wife would be under direct mentorship under Nana and this would make the scenario business as usual. However party thought Nana was greedy and instead Sindhu Marsurkar was given a ticket. Nana was never against Sindhu Marsurkar. Shiv sena knew Nana was important but so did BJP. Someone loss is someone gain. Looking at this opportunity BJP pounced and asked Nana to join them with a Ticket to his wife for the BMC election and post of Mumbai Vice president for himself. With relation sour with Shiv Sena, Nana agreed to join BJP and this announcement would send all Shivsenaniks in a chaos and anger. Followed by backlash and negative publicity all across Parel. Every Shivsainiks was against him. All the building that Nana personally help build & maintain during his tenure had posters "Nana Gaddar ahe" he is a traitor. Nana expected this backlash and dealt with it professionally. This quality of Nana Ambole to be Calm during a storm like this, was a sign of utmost maturity which a lot of politician lack. He did not panic or make any wrong moves during though time. He was calm as a lotus. His core team also stuck by him. His wife would go on to loose the election to Sindhu Marsurkar only to seal Nana as a BJP member permanently.

Bhartiya Janta Party

BJP functions very differently to Shiv Sena. Being a Mumbai vice president for BJP has made Nana a powerful man today. BJP is Nana's new home which he says he is very happy with. BJP took good care of Nana, during the Shiv Sena backlash when he left the party. Nana has immense support from senior leaders at BJP and consider Nana suggestions. Nana is working on lot of plans for all sectors of society which cannot be revealed due to obvious reasons, we will have to wait and watch. Nana is heavily tipped to contest the MLA election next year from Sewree constituency, however it's not yet confirmed but it will be a interesting battle to watch. However Nana has only best wishes for Shivsena and utmost respect for the party.

Personal life

(Kalyani and Mayuri, Nana's daughters)

The most down to earth politician you will ever find. Stays in a small modest Parel house with his wife and two daughters Kalyani and Mayuri, who joined me and Nana to discuss this article and give their own insights. Both the daughters have a good bonding with their politician father who is also their role model. Well initially they had decided to join politics like their father but looking their fathers eractic work and hectic schedule, they have given up on joining politics and do IS instead. Kalyani is happy with her father decision to join BJP and the entire family is backing Nana on joining BJP. It's 12:15 am in the night while we discussed this article and a group of people have walked in to meet Nana and he welcomes them with a smile, such is life of an approachable politician who will continue to make a difference but in a different color this time.

Note: I do not support any political party nor I intend to offend anyone with this article. This article is purely written to spread positivity with the example of hard work and challenges of Nana Ambole. This article is written to showcase the insights of the challenges faced by Nana Ambole during his political carrier and how he dealt with these situations. You might not agree with some incidents mentioned in this article but they are purely written with the subjects point of view and you are free to have your own opinion. If you are offended by reading this, I sincerely apologise.

[banshatirblog]

From Vada Pav to Samsung in style

By Warren Picardo

“If you are born poor it’s not your mistake but if you die poor it’s your mistake”

Bill Gates

Ganesh Puralkar

After chasing Ganesh for 3 days, I finally got hold of him. I had briefed him about my idea to write an article on him to which he was surprised. Honestly I am a big fan of him and have been following his moves for many years. I always wanted to know this mamoth transformation from a road side Vada pav vendors son, to this successful entrepreneur and not a inch of stress on his face. We settle in his Samsug smart cafe to discuss this article. This is how he did it.

Early Life and Rise

Ganesh had a very modest upbringing, as his dad was a mill worker with the Vada pav stall in Parel and mind you, a very famous Vada pav stall, which still exist. Infact my indian friend, who is now settled in Germany, specifically requested to pick up Vada pav from Ganesh’s stall to eat in Germany, when some of my friends from Mumbai, went to Germany on a vacation. Growing up he knew that he wanted to do business and never wanted to take up a job. This was sparked by the sucess of his dad’s business. Life had other plans & while in college, he took up a part time job @ Sai Krupa chemist to support his family, which would eventually turn out to be his first nature of business. Ganesh completed his graduation in commerce from MD college and was ready to fly with a graduation degree and his chemist experience. In 2001 his dad received his retirement funds which was blindly directed towards Ganesh’s first business venture, which was Swami Samarth Chemist, bang opposite KEM hospital. Finally he had moved from a road side business to a fully sophisticated Chemist at a prime location, which had steady customer base and was open 24/7. Saving life and making money was the plan. Ganesh was duely supported by his cousin and risk taker Mr Vilas Gaonkar, which would turn out to be a curse later in this article. This chemist was opened with 2 other partners and that he says is your first learning to be successful. “Never do business in partnership, Always go solo”. All was going well and Ganesh was turning out to be a successful businessman with his very first venture and confidence was sky high. (That is your second learning. Do not venture into a business without having knowledge about that business). On the other hand his cousin was building brand Swami Samarth into huge entity, which helped Ganesh grow and venture into other businesses. He started mingling with all the big players of this game. In a matter of few years he had become a high flier that he always wanted to be. Expensive bikes, cars, watches, all at his disposal. Ganesh the Vada pav vendors son had become Ganesh Sheth, Ganesh bhau and everybody wanted to be his friend including me. He was the talk of the town and poster boy of anything is possible. Brand Swami Samarth was firmly established and growing every day.

Crash of Brand Swami Samarth

Expansion can be dangerous and addiction to expansion can be catastrophic. Cousin Gaonkar was in a madning rush to take brand Swami Samarth everywhere, his rise and sucess had given him a unrealistic confidence. To execute this plan, he started investing in any business opportunities that his advisors suggested. Money, mind you was raised on interset from banks and various sources to invest in these new businesses, which he didn’t have any knowledge about. (Remember Ganesh’s 2nd learning). Things started to turn ugly due to this mad expansion plan and debts started mounting on the brand. Returns were not very good from new businesses, any suggestions from Ganesh to his cousin were not entertained but Ganesh could not leave this person, who had helped him become a high flyer. Things began to crash and brand Swami Samarth was falling down quicker than it went up. This also affected Ganesh’s personal busineses and finally his first chemist venture was sealed as his partners didn’t support him (Remember his first learning, never do business in partnership). Ganesh was not directly involved in the debts his cousin incurred, however since he was a part of brand Swami Samarth, he was automatically dragged into it. Debts on the brand had reached above 100 crores and all ventures were getting sealed one after another. Ganesh is still repaying losses incurred to investors, who invested in Brand Swami Samarth on his reference and this has taken him back by at least 10 years from where he should have been by now.

Fresh Start

In 2013 Ganesh decided to start fresh and solo. He was not a quitter and coming out of this turmoil, he wanted to make his own mark. Since last 7 years he owns a Samsung smart cafe at Lalbaug and another mobile store named Cafe digital which sells all brands of mobile and accessories. He also has a medical store in Kalachowky, which was his first nature of business. He manages all 3 business and gets update on a daily basis. He is more focused than ever and has learned it, the hard way. He knows sucess can’t go to his head and has already witnessed, how a brand or a business empire can vanish in no time. He has seen ups and downs of the business world, lived with stress, achieved and lost it all. He has seen it all. He would like others to learn from this experience and I will reiterate his business rules to be successful.

1) Never do business in partnership

2) Never get into a business without having complete knowledge of that business

3) Network and hard work are very important aspect to be successful

4) Nobody is your backup in business

5) Business expansion should not be done blindly by raising money from the market

Personal life

Today he is a satisfied and a grounded man. He has paid a huge price of his cousin expansion plan and is still repaying money to the lenders. He stays in plush Ashok towers at Parel. Ganesh is happily married to Shraddha, who is also his best backup. She has been by his side like a rock during bad times. They have a son named Arjun. He drops Arjun to school every morning on his bike and is fulfilling his daddy duties very well. He tries to spend all his free time with his family. He does not have a goal or a figure he wants to achieve, he says sky is the limit, however his aim is to buy a house in Singapore, which happens to be his favourite holiday destination. He does not regret the experience he had with his cousin, he says it has only made him stronger. His cousin gave him a vision to think big and he continues to think that way. He believes in building an Empire, one brick at a time.

Current Business

You should visit his Samsung smart cafe store Daignolly opposite to the iconic Bharatmata cinema. They sell genuine Samsung products and accessories. When you enter his store, Ganesh will personally greet you and show you around. Right now its decked up with Samsung S9 marketing. Ganesh can offer you the best price on any of the Samsung phones and gadgets available in the market today. He also has another store named cafe digital, stone throw away from his Samsung store, which sells phones and accessories of all brands. You are guaranteed genuine products, reviews and recommendation, when you shop there. His store is a hit with locals because of their after sales service, which is very rare to get these days. Ganesh has good bonding with all his customers for providing value for money, products and services. Today Ganesh sells more high end Samsung phones than any other shop in Parel and Lalbaug. He is genuinely a very humble person by nature. He is businessman with a human touch and once you are his customer, you will always be his customer, such is the charm of Ganesh Puralkar.

You can reach Ganesh on 9820544181

[banshatirblog]

St Agnes has talent

22nd March 2018

By Warren Picardo

After a successful meeting in the morning I head straight to St Agnes for my singing class. I enter Sister Sharon’s cabin to greet her and in a stern voice she tells me to go check the exhibition which I wasn’t aware of. Apparently 16 primary classes from Std 1st to 4th had shocased thier talent. As I started visiting my 1st class I understood why Sister Sharon used her stern voice to direct me towards the exhibition. There was so much effort and talent that was on display, every art unique in its own way. Everything so bright and positive. Every kid had literally put their heart out on display. Every class had kids welcoming you to their class, explaining the art as to what have they worked on n everything on display was hand made by little hands that are growing faster than we all think. I was spell bound by the amount of effort which had gone in putting up this exhibition. Hard work kids put to display the talent St Agnes school posses is impeccable. I literally went back to my school days and compared my situation only to realise that St Agnes girls are far more talented then I ever was. It was a shame that none of the items were for sale, I would have gone bankrupt buying the amount of things I liked in this exhibition. Turnout was fantastic and very overwhelming by parents to encourage thier kids and other students. Teachers are silent spectators who we all over see. Teachers have played a big role in pulling this off and I want to congratulate all the teachers for such a fantastic achievment. Items on exhibition display were Lamps, Glass painting, Doll artwork, Paper art, Bangle art, Jute art, Paper Vase, Paper flowers, Wall hanging displays n lots more. The list just goes on and on. There was also a live St Claudine helpings kids which was highlight for me. I will leave you with pictures to judge it yourself while I have managed to experience it in person.This exhibition has made my week and month already. St Agnes has talent and with Sister Sharon’s direction this will only get better.

Special thanks to Lorraine for accompanying me during this exhibition.

[banshatirblog]

This is horrific #Notoplagiarized

WRITERS OF TUMBLR

A few hours ago, @wanderingworlds and I have found that a published author by the name of Rishabh Puri has plagiarized several of our works (and perhaps also works from the writing community of tumblr) and published them on his facebook as his own. Please REBLOG and spread the word to check if anyone else has had their work stolen!

https://www.facebook.com/AuthorRishabhPuri

[banshatirblog]

Breakfast Naidu

By Warren Picardo

Gone are the days when people got up and thanked God first, Now a day’s people think first about Mr Prakash Naidu and why not when you sell some of the best breakfast in town, people are bound to think about you. Prakash is a owner of the very famous Saikrupa fast food in Parel. Started from a humble beginning 30 years ago with a road side food business and is now become the go to guy for breakfast. His customers are so loyal that Prakash has zero marketing expense. Zomato & Just dail the big marketing gaints have been calmly turned down by him when they approached him for marketing. In a nutshell Prakash is running a successful fast food joint without marketing and home delivery. His client personally come and take parcels themselves and that is what he wants, interaction with his customers daily. He believes word of mouth is the best marketing even in this digital world. He is not the boss that will sit at home and throws orders to his staff, he leads by example and works with them. He says a lot of credit of his sucess goes to his mother Mrs Sampurna Naidu. The food that everyone enjoys today are her recipies which she has passed on to Prakash and his food team. He loves his mother so much that he even told me this “mera naam article main nahi aya toh bhi chalega, Mummy Ko please mention karna”, that is the moment I realised that I have choosen the right person to write about, person who works hard and loves his mother. Another reason for Prakash success is his man management and rapport with his staff. He says he never behaves like a boss with his staff and even if they do small misatake, he overlooks them and moves on. Anyone, who is in food business knows finding and keeping your staff happy is your biggest challenge and Prakash has achieved this with style. His staff is so friendly and warm, they work as if they belong there and that attracts customers which is another reason Saikrupa is successful today. There is lot more Saikrupa offers today than breakfast there are evolving with their clients. They have recently added twisted potatoes and Nachos to their menu which has been positively accepted by thier loyal client base. Saikrupa fast food is not a successful business its a dream that Prakash saw 30 years ago and worked hard to achieve it. I am thier client too and now I am a fan too.

Mrs Sampurna Naidu

Previous Article on Saikrupa and Prakash

Saikrupa fast food is @ Aai Mai Mervanji Street opp Janani Bar @ Parel

Menu

[banshatirblog]

Toying Around

By Warren Picardo

Parel, Mumbai is not a place know for toys. There are very few shops that sell or display toys. The best toy shop you will find in Parel is Firdosi, loacted right in the heart of Parel. Coming out of this unusiality is Kevin D'souza. He is currently seen with big mean real toy. His 650cc Hyosung Aquila. You will know it’s him when he zips pass narrow streets of Parel and also the only one to own a cruser mean machine that can sounds like it does. This was not the case always. This all started in 1998 when Kevin was in College and wanted a particular London double decker toy bus which he couldn’t find. He went on such a maddening search for that toy and visited every place possible in Mumbai but couldn’t find it. He ended up buying a damaged double decker but was tied with a thin rope to keep it together @chor bazaar. This was disastrously close to what he wanted, he bought that bus nevertheless for 90/- bucks. Not being happy with what he bought he continued searching and researching. He finally found solace when he got his hands of EBay, Gift centre and Private collectors. He loved what he seen to such a extent he ended up becoming a toy collector that a very few know. His toy collection consist of Buses, Cars, Famous musician, bikes, Planes. Most of his toy collection is imported from Russia, USA & UK. All of his bus collection are handmade from Russia. He would like to sell a few of his collection but everything is not for sale. He has GNR, Mettalica, Slash and many more icons in his toy collection and he has rejected numerous bids for these mean babies singing away silently in his small Parel house. Toys can be expensive and some of his buses have cost him upto 25k per peice. Yes you read it right. If you want to check or buy some of the stuff he is willing to sell, you can reach Kevin on 9819689576.