JOSHI WADEWALE – Story of couple who went to sleep hungry, now owns over 20 hotels

Akshata Bhawar

Pune – Till date, we have witnessed or heard about numerous stories in which an individual struggles hard to establish a business of his own. Nevertheless, this is a story about a couple who struggled collectively and has efficaciously established a business of their own. A couple who belongs to Pune decided to establish a business than doing a job.

Shailesh Joshi, a very hard working boy who belonged to a poor family and struggled since his school days. His father was the only earning member of the family, so there was no other option left for Shailesh and his brother than doing some work. Shailesh and his brother sold cucumbers and flower garland (also known as gajra in Marathi.) at bus stops and through this somehow they managed to pay fees for their schooling.

Other children enjoyed Diwali, but to earn money for their livelihood was the only motto of Shailesh and his family. He started selling lamps (diyas) and such Diwali stuff for earning money. Shailesh was fond of sports; he participated in various competitions in his school and won. Somehow, he came to know about Judo and he gained interest in it. Since then, Judo became a turning point in his life.

Shailesh struggled during his days at Modern College too. Every morning from seven to eight he washed cars and earned Rs 20 per month for paying his college fees. He dreamt of having his own cars while washing the cars of others. There was another turning point in his life when he met Maya during his college trip. Their friendship turned into a relationship. Maya was born with a golden spoon; she had plentiful servants in her house, exact opposite lifestyle was of Shailesh. Due to such circumstances, it was next to impossible for both of them to get married. Maya took a firm decision of marrying to Shailesh against wishes of her family as she perceived qualities like hardworking and loyalty in Shailesh.

Shailesh and Maya decided of not marrying unless they complete their degree and set up a business after receiving the degree. Shailesh hired a photocopy-machine (Xerox) and got married on 26th December 1985 to Maya. He started to collect all of the documents for the photocopy from various companies and his wife Maya photocopied them. Once, his wife photocopied all the documents then he delivered the documents to the respective places. Unfortunately, they didn’t earn much while doing this. They had no proper place to stay as they married against their families. They deposited their photocopy-machine to a landlord in Deccan area and started residing in a very small room which consisted of one bed, very few vessels and one gas stove.

On 8th October 1986 they were blessed with a baby boy, named Vijayendra or Viki. Shailesh was nominated for Judo in Japan after the birth of Viki. It was challenging for Shailesh to manage the sum of amount for going to Japan, but his cronies and well-wishers helped him to complete his childhood dream. Shailesh achieved a black belt in his Judo competition in Japan and got encouraged as he observed the hard work of people in Japan. Shailesh decided to put up a snacks stall in Sarasbaug. They really got a very good response for their stall and so they decided to start a hotel.

They started with ‘VIKI’S SNACK CENTER’ next to their earlier photocopy-machine shop. They didn’t get an expected response while doing this. Consequently, Maya suggested Shailesh to start with ‘JOSHI WADEWALE’ in the place of VIKI’S SNACK CENTER’; however Shailesh was a bit panicky regarding this suggestion of his wife. As Maya insisted, he agreed. From the first day itself on October 2, 1989, they received an optimistic response for their wadapav. Henceforth, Joshi Wadewale changed their lifestyle and they were progressing economically.

There was a tragedy experienced by Joshi family whilst everything was going satisfactorily. Mr. and Mrs. Joshi lost their son Viki on 11th Dec.1993 when he went for his school trip. Shailesh and Maya were going through a really very depressive stage; but they lived for their daughter Gauri. They couldn’t deal with this pain. So they decided to get suggestions from spiritual Guru Wamanrao Pai and once again they started to look their life in a more affirmative way.

Successfully, Mr. and Mrs. Joshi have established 20 hotels from just a hotel. Today, Shailesh is an owner of various cars. They are blessed with one son Anand and two daughters Gauri and Jeevanvidya. Now they are living a happy life. Both of them supported each other while they went through various ups and downs in their life. They have successfully made an achievement as a couple.

(Akshata Bhawar is a student of Journalism and Mass Communication)