“I Could Not Buy A Ticket To Sholay” How Vedanta Chairman Rose From Depression To Success?

All entrepreneurs, at some point, are confronted with a financial crisis. Additionally, it is considerably more difficult for an entrepreneur who is just getting his business off the ground. So is the story of Vedanta Group’s founder Anil Agarwal.

We are familiar with the success of Vedanta Limited, but most of us do not know the struggle behind the organisation. From a simple cable manufacturing company to being the father of a multinational mining company…life was not easy for Anil. It was after his first company, Shamsher Sterling Cable Company (SSCC) that he got to face the ‘toughest decade’ of his life. So much so that he did not have money to buy raw materials or pay salaries to his employees.

Bihar Boy, now The Metal King

Taking to Twitter, the ‘Metal King’ shared his story of depression and misery. For a young lad who travelled all the way from Bihar to Mumbai with only a tiffin box, situations transformed in a manner where Agarwal had to borrow money from his friends and family after having established SSCC. But just as a stone cannot be carved into an idol without sheer force, an icon cannot be born without hard work and struggle. Agarwal did not lose hope, he knew he would be successful, that his hard work would not go in vain.

Millions of people come to Mumbai to try their luck. I was one of them. I remember the day I left Bihar with only a tiffin box, bedding, and dreams in my eyes. I arrived at Victoria Terminus station, and for the first time... pic.twitter.com/e4cN2U89vu

— Anil Agarwal (@AnilAgarwal_Ved) February 15, 2022

Agarwal faced failures one after another and severe backlash from rivals. He went through a long phase of struggle and depression. Just then, a government decision changed his fate and that of Vedanta Group, resulting in a chain of constant successful feats.

The beginning of a period of struggle!

Agarwal shared, “I had no experience on how to buy a company, but I went ahead anyway. Shamsher Sterling Cable Company had gone bankrupt and I had started dreaming about acquiring that company. Every day, I would go to the receiver's office and knock on one door to another to gather more information. I found out that I needed to pay 16 lakh as down payment which I did not have. I spent many sleepless nights thinking about how I would gather such a large sum of money. I managed to arrange the down payment of 16 lakhs through loans - 6 lakh from my own sources, 5 lakh from relatives, and 5 lakh from Rasik Bhai, a metal broker. As I signed the papers to officially buy the company in May 1976 I was teary-eyed and could not stop smiling. It was the happiest day of my life. But I had no idea that this was the turning point of a rollercoaster journey ahead.”

A company without funds…

Agarwal writes, “With a lot of hope I bought my first company, but what followed soon after were 10 years of constant struggle and stress. I acquired ‘Shamsher Sterling Cable Company’ in 1976. But I could neither pay off workers, nor did I have adequate funds to acquire raw materials. I spent my days clearing payments from bank to bank, and I spent my nights trying to process how I could restart the Cable Company. To fulfil my needs, I started 9 different businesses in different fields such as ‘Magnetic Wire, Different Cables, Aluminium Rod, Multiplex with Warner Brothers’. One after the other, every business accrued failure for me. But I did not lose hope.”

“I could not afford a ticket to Sholay”

Continuing the story, Anil said, “I had to reduce my stress, and what else could be better than cinema- my greatest passion! I headed out to Minerva Talkies to witness the premiere of Sholay. Among the crowd, I witnessed my favourite actors Amitabh Bachchan, Jaya Bhaduri, Dharmendra and others walking down the red carpet. Getting a seat as well as a ticket was seemingly impossible, but getting a glimpse of my favourite icons was enough for me. It was like my stress and problems just faded away.”

And then came the moment

Agarwal’s constant hard work finally bore fruit, when in 1986 the Government of India brought about a minor change in the national policy. The government allowed private sectors to manufacture telephone cables. The Metal King writes, “Today, when I look back, I realize that the universe made me suffer and struggle during my beginning years, so that I would be capable enough to handle the most successful milestone of my life- Vedanta. To attain success, we must handle our failures. After a period of 10 years, the government finally allowed private sector firms to manufacture telephone cables, and that is when everything changed for me.”

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