Parents are like an umbrella giving us the best protection throughout our life. While many children are blessed enough to grow under the protection of their fathers, many are unfortunate to struggle hard from an age which is meant for playing and enjoying. One such unfortunate child’s story is of Shivarama’s Bhandary, who made his own fate through hard work and dedication.
The Tough Time
Shivarama was only 4 years old when his father died. The only help his family received from the Mumbai neighbors was Rs.365 which used to have a great value during the period of 1959. His mother left Mumbai with Shivaram and his sister and managed to reach their village with the help of a kind man. But unfortunately, his mother could not reside in their ancestral home nor could she go back to her own parents as they were already dead. Like wanderers, the lady kept on traveling with her two children from one relative’s place to another.
When Shivarama was 5 years old, they managed to shift inside a shelter which was their home having no bathroom or electricity. He left school and started running home by working in a cycle repair shop and selling vegetables at the weekend. He continued his struggle till October 1979, when he decided to move Mumbai and at only Rs.30 salary he made his job at “Ajanta hairdressers” a local salon in the suburb areas of Bhandup. Soon his efforts slowly started gaining success and he got a chance to work in many salons between Bhandup to Ghatkopar. He used to sleep at Ramabhai quarters after working a full day.
The Twist in his Career
It was in October 1984, his career took a turn when he got the chance of traveling to Qatar. There he worked for a sports club where he explored the best of his creativeness by styling various hairstyles for the players from Korea, Sudan, and Brazil. There he learned how to treat different types of hair like long waves, curly, and straight. He also learned how to maintain proper hygiene while styling the hair and the different kinds of hair brushes and combs for each hair type. Next, he did haircuts of different players in the National Football team where his work got highly appreciated and slowly he started becoming famous. Often players used to leave a good amount of tips for his innovative styling quality which they simply loved.
Dreams Come True
He soon built a small house with the saving he had from working in Qatar. His sister could not survive, so he called his mother to the new house and both of them started living there. Finally, in 1988, he managed to open a salon in Thane having second-hand furniture and his best efforts for 50 days before he hired any other worker. He worked in the salon from 5 a.m. in the morning until midnight and by God’s blessing it slowly gathered a huge crowd and gained popularity. Soon he started spreading is branches in the western side too. He achieved the biggest success in 1998 when he won a hair styling completion in the Wild and Wacky hair category. It was Christopher Mann, the famous Hair Dresser commissioner encourage him to go abroad to take advanced courses. He finally attained 3 months course in London to achieve his expertise and came into contact with various top hairdressers from different parts of the world.
The salon is none other than the top-rated Shiva’s Salon in Mumbai which is a home to many Bollywood celebrities. Big personalities like Late Balasaheb Thackeray and many Bollywood A-listers have highly appreciated the work of Shiva’s Salon and visit it quite often. Today the Salon has 20 branches in different areas of Mumbai with more than 300 employees working for it.
Shivarama’s story teaches us that if you are passionate and hardworking, nothing can stop you from achieving success. You just need to find your talent.
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