“Hyderabad for me is what I call ‘sone ki chidiya’. Right from the mouth-watering Hyderabadi biryani to the humble people the city has to offer, it’s a home. I grew up watching my father take care of our family business that dealt with auto parts in King Koti. After completing the 10th standard, my interest inclined towards the business field. I often wished to have a shop of my own. I used to come to the Secunderabad circle and wonder if I’d ever been able to have a shop of my somewhere here.

Well, now I have four branches of a business I started which is called ‘Helmet World’. I have people trying to establish their career in business with a similar idea as Helmet World. Honestly, it is a proud feeling to see something like this happening. Having said that, the new era of online shopping has created havoc in our businesses. As our business sees a fall in profits it gets difficult for us to pay everyone. Right from our employees to pay our property tax, it is quite a burden.

I’ve always considered myself to be lucky for having parents who supported me in every path of my life. The bond my father and I shared was more like that of a friend. I remember as a kid I used to make sure to let him know about my whereabouts. If I was planning on bunking school that particular day, I would tell him I am going to a movie and will not be attending school (haha). As a kid, I used to love watching movies. I used to buy a ticket for one rupee and watch movies of famous actors like Amitabh Bachan, Dilip Kumar, and Raj Kumar.

Apart from business and movies, travelling is something I admire. Even though most of them were for work purposes, the feeling of moving from one place to another was different. I used to quite often travel to Delhi and my father would always ask me to go see the Taj Mahal. I’d reply by saying, for one to see the Taj Mahal it is important to be with one (laughs). Later, I visited the Taj Mahal with my wife and children.”