Page 18 - Gujar Mal Modi

Calcutta address and forwarded the hundi (a type of demand note) through the

bank. But when the hundi was not honoured by the Calcutta dealer within the
specified time, the father got suspicious. The question now was how to pursue

the dealer and recover the amount. Gujarmal, then in his twentieth year, offered
to go to Calcutta. He was so confident of handling the job. He promised that in

case he was not able to recover the amount, he would bear the entire expense of
the journey out of his pocket money which, then, was barely Rs. 10/- per month.

In the face of the firm determination and confidence shown by the son, the fa-
ther permitted him to go to Calcutta.

At first, the railway authorities in Calcutta appeared to be reluctant to help Gujar-

mal trace the whereabouts of the dealer but when the young man threatened le-
gal action, the authorities yielded. The dealer was called and Gujarmal was able

to recover the money.

While in Calcutta, the young businessman made a thorough study of the market

conditions in the city. It was there that he first learnt about the principles of gen-
eral insurance business. He saw the signboard of an insurance company outside

one godown. With an enquiring mind he went inside to find out what the word
insurance meant. Once inside, he was fully convinced about the soundness of

the principle of general insurance. On his return home he tried to explain to his
father the need to have the family business insured against the risk of fire and

other accidents. To this the father agreed.

Very soon thereafter, the family was able to reap the fruit of the wise step taken
by them when after a fire accident at their flour mill they got full compensation

from the insurance company. This also earned Gujarmal Modi the assistant man-
agership of the flour mill. This was one of the early opportunities for him to show

his mettle. He administered the affairs of the mill well and was able to expand its
business.

There is one more incident which illustrates his business acumen, and also, inci-
dentally, the magnanimous nature of the Modi family. In those days India used to

import foodgrains and wheat from Australia and some other countries. The cost
of wheat on arrival at the mill was 4.5 seers (about 4.2 kg) per rupee. While wheat

flour from the mill was being supplied to the army at the rate of 4 seers (approx.

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