Ravinder Soni at his restaurant in Jamshedpur. A Telegraph picture

Even with the ?self-made man? tag attached to him, this successful businessman today takes pride in the fact that his sons have taken the family business to another level. That should not be a surprise to any one who knows Ravindra Kumar Soni. The humility becomes him.

An alumni of Co-Operative College, Jamshedpur, Ravinder joined the family business of automobiles in 1974-75, fresh from college and brimming with enthusiasm. Through the years, Ravinder worked towards one goal ? making his father?s dream come true. In the course, sucess followed.

Starting with a dry-cleaning outlet, Soni, later established a petrol-pump in Bistupur. Though his ventures were yeilding satisfactory results, this sauve businessman had other plans ? he wished to dabble with the hospitality industry in Jamshedpur. Thus, in 1977 Novelty, the resturant, was established in Bistupur.

?The place belonged to a family freind and they happened to be leaving it. I bought the land and that was my first step towards my dream ,? says Ravinder. The resturant, considered the first trult- for-connoisseur in Jamshedpur, has been taking rapid strides ever since. ?Through the years, Jamshedpur has grown and that is, perhaps, the reason why our business boomed,? says Ravinder.

Surely, things could not have been so simple for Ravinder. ?Problems will always be there, but one has take things in his stride and handle them the best he can,? he says. This eal is, perhaps, this is the factor of his success.

Ravinder admits he was fortunate and things never really got difficult though an upmarket resturant was a novel concept for the steel city in the seventies. ?We did not face any technical problems as such, but Jamshedpur then was not a safe place to be in. The law and order situations in the city was at rock bottoms and the menace of the hooligans were sometimes intolerable. With time, things changed. The city is now congenial for business. It is peaceful and that is the reason why many business establishments are setting shop here,? says Ravinder.

Those in hospitality industry here have a different set of problems to tackle. ?Its not that great a city for the hospitality industry, which thrives on the floating population. As there are no tourism facilities here, the draw is pretty low.? says Ravinder.

Elaborating on recent trends in the steel city, Ravinder says: ?Though the number of those eating-out has increased in recent years, we still have a long way to go. I am sure with time we will overcome this problem as well. We provide the best in terms of quality and quantity and every item is reasonably priced. I am confident about the future,' says Ravinder.

Ravinder Soni has also tied up with Kaveri Restaurant in Ranchi to provide the best catering services in Jamshedpur during social dos and he also provides catering services to many corporate offices.

Even though Novelty has carved a niche for itself, for someone with an acute business acumen like Ravinder?s there is always more to do. They decided to expand their business to other cities as well and thus came up Herbs and Spice, their second offering in exquisite dining, in Pune. ?That?s where business thrives. Unlike Jamshedpur, eating out is very common there and people are always ready to try out new cuisine. That is why we decided to open this restaurant in Pune,? says Ravinder

With his elder brother looking after the Pune venture, Soni is now working on setting up a four-star hotel in Pune. Ask him more about it and he says: ?We are only working on the plan. Let?s see what happens.?

So does he have any plans of expanding his business in his hometown as well? ?We may start another restaurant in the city, but nothing is final as yet.? What is final though is that all his future ventures would be in the hospitality industry.

Soni?s choc-a-bloc schedule hardly gives him time, but whatever little he does manage, is spent with family and his two cars. ?I just love my cars. I make it a point to clean them on my own and never allow anyone to touch them,? he smiles. He wishes to pass on this heritage to his son who is studying hotel management in Switzerland. Does that means like father, like son? ?Well, you can say that. He has to come back and look after the business,? says Ravinder.

Also on the blocks is a new look for Novelty, reveals Soni. So Jamshedpur can look forward to further variety and exotic tastes. ?Lets see what happens,? he says with a smile.

Whatever the problems, Ravinder Soni is confident of eventual success as he has learnt the mantra that the way to anybody?s heart, undoubetedly, goes via the stomach.

Nilanjana Ghosh Choudhury