More on the Pundole Family

by Cyrus Pundole, London, September 2006

A few of you may know I went to India and KL a few months back to see my aunts and uncle. I have attached the results of my conversations with Maki, Naju and Noshir. Time is limited, as I was in the two countries for just six days in total. All three were happy to talk, and I certainly enjoyed the experience. It's just a brief snapshot but a full account of what was said.

Naju Aunty:

Naju, and the three brothers were born in the Marine Lines area of Bombay, close to Churchgate Station, not far away from Marine Drive.

She was born in 1918, Noshir in 1921, Russi in 1922 and Kali in 1925.

Maki was born in 1916 in Alleppy in the South of India (Kerala). Being the first child of Mehra, it took place there to follow the tradition that a woman’s first birth would be at the home of their mother.

How Naju's grandparents came to be at Alleppy at all is an interesting tale, which takes place around 1850, possibly before.

Naju aunty explained: "My mother's uncles dealt in small boat transport. Once one of the brothers heard that one of the raja's [the Maharaja of Travencore] daughters was not well. One brother was forced by the raja to try to cure the daughter.

Somehow, perhaps more by luck than judgement, and perhaps she was on the mend anyway, he managed to do this. "The raja was so pleased" said Naju, "that he gave him some land, at Alleppy." There was a home and some land."For a number of years nobody used the home, but later on my grandfather [maternal, Nowroji], who was born in Bombay, thought he would go to Alleppy."

Naju’s mother Mehra was born in Bombay. She was one of four sisters and three brothers. Along with two of her sisters, they married and lived in Bombay.

Maki would have been born when their mother was in her late 20s.

Naju explained the origins of the watch and clock making side of the family.

She said: "My grandfather [paternal, Dadabhoy, one of four brothers] was in the horology business. He and my father both went to Switzerland to study.

My grandfather came to Bombay [one went to Pune], while the other brothers stayed in Surat."

The surname of the family in Surat, at that time, was Ghadiali, which means watchmaker.

Dadabhoy opened a shop in the Fort area of Bombay. Then in 1886 he opened the shop at Flora Fountain.

Her father Nowroji took over the shop. However, he suffered a stroke in 1936, and it was left to Noshir to take over the running of the shop.

He would have been 15 or 16 then and would spend half a day in the shop, the other half studying at college. "We had a manager, he would have helped as well," said Naju.

After a couple of years Naju's mother asked her to help out in the shop. Noshir worked at the shop until 1948. Naju carried on working, in what became the watch and clock shop that adjoined the gallery run by Kali, into the mid-80s. Nowroji died in 1947, aged 65.  Mehra, died in 1971, aged 82.

Maki Aunty:

I started by asking Maki aunty about my father’s experience during the Second World War, when he was a radio officer for the Indian Merchant Navy.

I knew that he was one of the last to get off his ship, after it was struck by a Japanese torpedo. Maki told me how, if he had not kept on radioing for help and got on an earlier lifeboat, he would have perished, as that lifeboat proved to be overloaded with crew desperate to get off. It seems he was last off with the captain and first officer. She explained how the family, back in Bombay, found out the news.

"It was practically the end of the war when the ship was torpedoed, 43 or 44 [1943]. The boat was coming from Rangoon to Calcutta.

“We heard it had been sunk. The whole family panicked." She explained how another young Parsi, from Bombay, was also on board the ship. Some of that family's relatives, who were in Calcutta, discovered both young men had survived. They contacted their relations in Bombay, who in turn informed the Pundoles of the good news.

“They told us Russi was okay. It must have taken two or three days for the good news to arrive. Our mother told everyone not to ask Russi any questions.

"He was at home for around six to 12 months recovering, by which time the war had finished. He then joined Air India."

Maki aunty then filled in some brief details about herself and her husband Nariman.

“I used to do Montessori teaching. I took the course in 35/36, then I started teaching in Dadar  I used to go by tram until I got married."

Nariman was an accountant when they married. In the 60s he bought two shops.

In 1952 they went by boat to England.

"My father was softly spoken. My mother was strong, quite strict, but that was the right thing.\"

Noshir Uncle:

When Noshir was 16 he had to take over the running of the shop from his father, who suffered a stroke in 1936.

"I just would not give up college. Mama was doing a 24-hour job looking after my dad at home, so I had to look after the shop."

He studied Commerce at St Xavier's College, run by Jesuits, at Bombay University.

The top floor of the shop was dedicated to wholesale, catering for watch shops throughout India. In its entirety, retail and wholesale, the shop employed around 27 people in the pre-war years. A number of these were agents who went around the country for orders.

"Business was doing exceedingly well" said Noshir, who at this stage had completed his degree, by the age of 21/22, and had remained in the shop, now full-time.

"We were able to look after your dad's [Russi's] education [to be a wireless operator] and Kali's automobile education in London."

Noshir confirmed something I'd heard years ago, about Kali, that he competed in cycling for India.

"He competed in a race in Italy. He used to spend a lot of money on cycles. His friends were all cyclists. For my part, I was in the Scouts, so hiking was my thing. Bombay has lots of hills. Your dad [Russi], from day one, wanted to go outside and travel."

"Russi joined the Merchant Navy one year before the war, with Scindia Navigation. His ship was torpedoed a couple of years before the end of the war.

He was mentally very disturbed, so the company gave him some treatment.

He told us that he stayed on the ship as long as possible. The captain, the first officer and he were the last to abandon ship.

He did not want to go back to the sea afterwards. At that time Air India was new and was looking for people. He was posted to London early on."

Much earlier, Noshir’s father had gone to Switzerland to be trained at La Chaux de Fonds. Noshir himself went on to study abroad. He took a masters degree in Business Administration at UCLA during his 40s.

After a few years in the shop, the war was declared. That spoilt the business. It was totally ruined due to a ban on watch imports by the British. They decided that there were more important things to import into India than watches and clocks.

The wholesale branch of the business, based on the top floor, was closed as a result. But downstairs in sales it was not much better, as 80 per cent of staff were lost.

"Difficult decisions had to be made. 80 per cent of the 25 staff, including all of the travelling salesmen, had to go. All the repair people had to go. We were left with four or five people," Noshir explained.

D.R Pundole and Sons was the retail side of the business, Sincera Watch Company was the wholesale.

"My grandfather had bought Sincera earlier on. We had 4,500 sq ft of office space."

The building went further to the right of what is today occupied by the American Dry Fruit store.

“Things were very tough. It was difficult to pay the salaries and household expenses. We had to pay off loans to the bank, and there was rent to pay on the building. It was never actually owned by the Pundole family.

"The building was offered to us at a very reasonable price, but my father Nowroji decided against it."

"We had to sell off space in the shop. By this time the war was over. Russi was still in England, but Kali came back in 1948.

"The business had shrunk to such an extent that it was not possible for him and me to survive, so I offered it to him and started looking for jobs."

"I was offered a job in a travel agency. Trade Wings had started recently, it was an Indian company, and offered me a job as executive director.

"One of the two directors lived above us in Nepean Sea Road. He knew I was looking for a job and thought I could do it.

"I became a director but told them that I could not put any money in. I said I would do it, and if profits came, I would get some shares.

"We were providing for business people from abroad travelling into the country. Only businessmen could travel at that time.

"The two other directors had good contacts in India, I got the foreigners in. We were offering cheaper deals and were successful."

There was little competition; the two other travel agents both came from abroad, Thomas Cook and American Express. Trade Wings soon established other offices in Dehli, Calcutta and Madras. "I was kept pretty busy," said Noshir. It's how I got the travel bug\"

Speaking about his priorities at the time, he said: "There was an element of greed. Money attracts people, and at that time money was everything to me. I worked very hard in the shop, but circumstances closed you in. It was a thriving business, but the war threw us out. Two other foreign businesses in the watch trade closed, but we had to keep going because we were local.

"Then another offer was made to me which I could not refuse."

Noshir's Lions Club activities had begun earlier, in ‘56. He volunteered in his spare time, and until 1960 he was president of the Bombay branch.

He got involved much earlier. In 1950 he was State Chief Commissioner for Bombay Scouts. The Indian Government appointed Noshir leader of a delegation of Indian Scouts to a jamboree in Valley Forge, Pennsylvania.

He went with Roshan for three weeks. The first two weeks were involved with the Scouts, during which time The Sexton Lions Club, near Valley Forge, invited the Scouts to attend.

“I expressed a wish that it would be a good thing for a club like this to be established in India. They liked the idea. It took six years to turn that dream into a reality. Then in 1958 the International Lions Organization offered me a paid job as the Asian Secretary. There were no clubs elsewhere in Asia. It was for me to spread the word and I was able to employ a small team."

His involvement with the Scout movement started in his school days as a Wolf Cub, going on to become Boy Scout, Rover Scout, before taking on a leader’s role as Scout Master, then rising to District Commissioner for Bombay City, and finally State Chief Commissioner of the State.

In 1965 he started a pharmaceutical company in Ahmedabad. Through Lions contacts in the US, Noshir had friends who were in that industry. "They wanted to come to India and they linked up with the Rohit Group, who were already in India.”

He had become a managing director for a textile mill in 1964, through a Lions contact.

1969 Palm Oil Refinery

1977, Pundole Holdings. “We built condominiums; it was an excellent time to be doing that. It carried on until last year. It was sold to a Chinese firm. I'm still in the process of winding up everything."

Noshir uncle has supplied me with the following, his job history:

1936-1948 --- DR Pundole & Sons --- family watch & jewellery business

1948-1958 --- Executive Director, Trade Wings Ptv. Ltd., a travel company located in Bombay with eight branch offices in India and an annual turnover of Rs. 32 million. Travelled extensively to Europe and USA

1958-1964--- Asian Secretary, Lions International.

A businessmen's organization for community service. Was responsible for establishing the organization in 19 Asian and African countries.

Was elected to serve on The International Board of Directors in 1964 and was invited to deliver a key-note address in 1963 at the World Convention in New York on "The Role of Service Clubs in Developing Countries".

Travelled extensively in Asia and Africa during this period.

1964-1969 --- Executive Director, Mehta Corporation Ptv. Ltd. Bombay.

A group with two textile mills, an export house and an engineering workshop.

Was responsible for starting an Indo-USA joint venture in the pharmaceutical facility, located at Ahmedabad.

1969-1977 --- Managing Director - Edible Oils (Malaysia) Ltd.

The first palm oil refinery and fractionation plant established in Asia with a staff of 750 persons and export sales of M$22 million in 1971 which rose to M$104 million in 1977 with additional plants installed.

1977-2005 --- Chairman, Pundole Holdings Ptv. Ltd.

A family owned company. in the property development business, which built and owned residential properties in prime localities in Kuala Lumpur. All its assets were sold and the company is in the process of being wound up.