The story of Haroon Rashid & Sohael Azam

Haroon Rashid & Sohail Azam worked for Rs.400 per month once upon a time. Soon, they became tired working for somebody and began to trade themselves. The partnership between these two friends was not registered on any document. The partnership was in their heart. Today, after thirty five years, this famous duo of two old men, touching sixty years each, is a landmark by itself in the fruits wholesale market of Calcutta. The next generation of Adil and Tinku are already in the firm; but the fathers dont want that! The old man, Haroon Rashid told me that he does not want the children to continue because there is no "izzat" any more in this business. Mind you he reads the Quran five times a day & smokes twenty sticks daily. When I asked Javed, the oldest employee in the firm what he dislikes about the big boss, Javed smiled and said, "I wish Haroon bhai would not take deciscions as quickly as he does because many a times we have been hit hard." I asked him how many times would the deciscion be wrong? "ten percent", was Javed's answer! This tells me that the two old men are magicians! If you can get 9 out of 10 odds in your favour, I guess you deserve a standing ovation! Tinku, the son of Sohael Azam is 29. He joined the firm while his brother chose to work in the information technology domain. When I asked him what would be his one grudge against his father and uncle, he said very quietly, but firmly, "I wish I had more freedom...". I asked him what would be his three most important actions if he had the control on the deciscion making of the firm and I was quietly pleased with what he said: 1) "I want to build on the HRS brand" 2) "I want to increase our distribution network in the country" 3) "I want to see ourselves in the overseas markets". Let me sum this up for you: two men, with full faith in each other, get into business; after 35 years, they are as good as the first day! I salute their friendship, their trust in each other, their inhuman ability to accept each other's errors and never give up. Haroon gave me an advice; he said, "...if you want a relationship to succeed, you must compromise and never look at the money". Their children are brimming with ideas. They are desperate to win on a bigger platform. That, to me, is a statement by itself. That means this fantastic story of friendship, business success and spirit will carry forward for another sixty years in the two boys of the two (old) men. "Yeh dosti, hum nahi toregne, torenge dum magar, tera saath na chorenge..." Well done Haroon bhai; well done Sohael bhai!!