Pratap Bhogilal Journey Through Life

Author(s): Rauf Ahmed
Publisher: Bhupendra Singh Anand

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PRATAP BHOGILAL - JOURNEY THROUGH LIFE
So a delegation was planned in 1986 by the Indian Merchants' Chamber (IMC) to Korea, China and Japan and since Mr. Jaswant Thacker had taken over from me as President after my term was over, the delegation was led by him and we were about 20 people in the delegation including eight couples. I was accompanied by Bhagwati. The delegation had not only good discussions with various Chambers in all the four countries and with their business and industrial leaders but we had a most enjoyable and interesting time sight seeing and living together as a group. Of course we had a most trying time with food especially in China. While at the business lunches and dinners we had excellent Chinese vegetarian food, at other times in hotels and restaurants it was difficult. We had to be satisfied with bread, butter, yoghurt, rice and boiled vegetable but we made it interesting by adding lomajo - a chilli paste to our meal. Indru Advani also met me at that time in Beijing.
The Willingdon Club, Mumbai
I got into a similar situation at the Willingdon Club, Mumbai, when I was a member of its Managing Committee. For two years I was Chairman of the labour sub-committee. Datta Samant, the famous labour union leader, was negotiating on behalf of the labourers. But I did not accept his demands which I thought were unreasonable. So they went on strike, burnt my effigy in the club premises and held dharna outside my house, but I stayed put. The members of the club supported me strongly and helped me run the club by physically working to keep many activities of the Club going, including sweeping the main premises etc. In the end, the strike had to be withdrawn. We gave the Willingdon Club staff a revised wage package which made them happy.
Sometime later, Jaswant Thacker and Vasant Vaidya, two trustees of the Club, approached me to become Vice Chairman of the Club (the Governor of Maharashtra was always the formal Chairman), but I declined as I had seen too many contradictions in the way the Club was being run. But they persisted with their request assuring me of all support. Finally, I relented. However, when I took over the responsibility and began working, I was terribly disillusioned and disturbed by the anomalies and irregularities in
Free trade is not based on utility but on justice - Edmund Burke