Dreams never die. They may remain dormant, or wait in the wings and when the time is right, come centre-stage, once again. That happened with Parmeshwar Lal Parjapat from Churu in Rajasthan. In his case, it was also a dream of his older brother, Ganesh, that made him want to chase it.

“As a 13-year-old boy, I watched my older brother start a furniture business. He worked hard at it, but for some reason the enterprise did not really take off,” Parmeshwar recollected. 

Time marched on. Parmeshwar trained in industrial electrical work, but somewhere in the back of his mind was a desire to do something by himself, something like what his older brother had started. He picked up the fragments of his brother’s dream, pieced them together, made the dream his own, and is now a successful furniture maker.

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Doubts did not deter Parameshwar

It was not easy following that dream, Parameshwar said. There were doubts galore, second thoughts as Parmeshwar’s parents still remembered the distress of their older son Ganesh’s enterprise not taking off. 

“Once bitten, twice shy. We had no prior experience of making furniture and one son had tried and not succeeded,” Shiv Bhagwan Parjapati, Parmeshwar’s father said. 

But Parmeshwar was not to be detracted from his goal and decided to make use of the huge opportunities offered online.

It was his friend Deepak Kaushik, of Global Jaipur Services, an e-business consulting firm, who introduced him to Flipkart and ever since, Parmeshwar has not looked back.

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Today, Parmeshwar has a factory and a furniture business that not just supports him and his family but many others. “I started with just one person, now I have a factory of my own and employ twenty five others, who are like extended family,” he said.

Parmeswar also holds the government-issued Artisan Card as his furniture is entirely hand-crafted. This is to promote handicrafts of the country and respecting and recognising that, Flipkart gives him several benefits because of that.

Sharing dreams

Girdhari Parjapati, a carpenter who works with Parmeshwar, said, “I am earning well, my children are going to a good school and our standard of living has improved.” 

Ganesh Das Swami, another carpenter, said he had travelled across the country working, staying away from his family for months on end. “Coming to Churu and to Parmeshwar’s enterprise has been the best decision I have ever made. I live with my family now and I am also treated like family by Prarameshwar,” he said.

Parameshwar’s success has enabled his older brother to return to his own dream. “Now that the business has picked up, we are working together,” Ganesh said. 

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Parameshwar conducts his entire business with Flipkart. “They provide excellent service, they never delay on transferring the money to my account directly, and I am spared the task of running from pillar to post trying to get my payments,” Parameshwar said. “My furniture travels the country now with Flipkart,” he added.

“Flipkart allowed me to hitch my dreams to their enterprise and along with me it has helped bring the smiles back into the faces of many others,” Parameshwar said. 

The aim of Gaon Connection’s series, Hands of India, which is supported by Flipkart, is to create empathy and a sense of pride for the people who help build India.