Chapter 1
Karachi, 1942

My interrupted childhood

"Since I could barely read or write, I could be given only casual work. My duties included sweeping and cleaning the shop before we started the day, offering water to customers, clearing away the samples of fabric and other goods after they left, and performing any odd job I was given."

On the 5th of June, 1942, the wealthy Shikarpuri cloth merchant Parsram Hukumchand Chhabria died suddenly, leaving behind ten children - five boys and five girls.

The fifth child, Pralhad, was only twelve.

In this chapter he tells of how his family soon found itself in straitened circumstances and he had to go to work. Brought up in an atmosphere of luxury and indulgence, he now faced a cruel world of long hours, hardship and discomfort.

These early working years held many lessons that were invaluable to the boy who would one day grow to be a major industrialist.