The tales of a father and his son

PART ONE

In 1925 a young matriculate man from Surendranagar moves to Bhavnagar and starts family life employed as Boiler Attendant in the only one Saw Mill of Seth Tribhovandas Howji in those days. The well paying Saw Mill business after the demise of the owner was neglected by his son and then run by a manager.

Every time the band-saw used to break, the manager would send a staff member to buy and bring a new band-saw blade from Mumbai. Meantime the Saw Mill would remain shut for a week and the staff got paid vacation. This situation inspired the Boiler Attendant to invest his savings in a couple of Band Saw blade rolls, which he managed to store at his friend's Kerosine vending shop.Now the Saw Mill started buying Band Saw blade rolls from the nearby Kerosine shop which benefitted both the buyer and seller(investor i.e. Boiler Attendant of the Saw Mill)

In 1935 young man rushed back to Surendranagar to look after his old father on deathbed. Sickness lasted more than three months. The young man was left with two options. Continue to look after and take care of his old father in Surendranagar but at the cost of losing his job in Bhavnagar. Continue to work for the Saw Mill in Bhavnagar but at the risk of ignoring his ailing father. The dying father asks his son not to risk with his job but young man opts to let go his Saw Mill job and stand by his father on deathbed.

After taking care of father till his last breath and performing his last rites, the young man returns to Bhavnagar. Now he has no job, his pockets empty but a heart filled with blessings by his departed father and the idea depicted in the above picture. He borrows few hundred rupees from one of his cousin sisters married to a rich man. He invests the money in hardware items and starts outlet store at the Kerosine vending shop of his friend Hiralal Makati.

Later the hardware business flourishes, Hiralal stops Kerosine vending and the shop is converted to a leading hardware business partnership firm named SHAH & MAKATI BROTHERS.

Pictures of the SHAH & MAKATI BROTHERS establishment in past and in the year 2016

This building is located at Ghogha Gate - the prime location of the High Court Road of Bhavnagar. It was owned by the maternal uncle of Hirabhai Makati and eventually inherited to Hirabhai & his brothers. The ground floor of this building was used by Hirabhai as a vendor of the Kerosine. It was converted into one of the first Hardware & Mill Gin stores of its kind under the guidance of Kantilal shah and the firm SHAH & MAKATI BROS was the only source of supply of needs to all the Saw Mills and Floor Mills of the Saurashtra region.

Later Hirabhai's brothers and their sons found it convenient to start automobile spares business at the same place under the name style The Indian Motor Trading Company.

Today it is own exclusively by the Hirabhai's elder son Sureshbhai Makati for his auto spares business under the name style The Indian Motor Trading Company. 

    As per strict instruction to his children by the late Shri Hirabhai, the firm SHAH & MAKATI
    BROS still exists and continues to operate. But now it is relocated to Jivan Mansion in Lati Bazar        of Bhavanagar and owned exclusively by the Hirabhai's younger son Mukesh Makati.
    After the demise of founder Kantilal Shah, his two sons decided to retire from this partnership and      migrate away from Bhavnagar in the year 1966. The elder one settled in Ahmedabad has passed 

    away & younger one sitting in America is writing this blog post.