Gurdial Singh Padda
Founder
New Delhi Restaurant | Oslo (NORWAY)
Ancestry & Birthplace:
Nurpur Jattan, Kapurthala, Punjab (India)
Residence:
Oslo (NORWAY)
LIFE IS WHAT YOU MAKE IT!
Not everyone leaves a government job to travel to 35 countries and finally find his way to success. He did!
When death looms large as you take your last breath, you realise the real meaning of life. Until then, I feel, every human runs after worldly affairs. I was no different until I saw death from up close in 1992. At 46, I had been in the police, travelled to over 35 countries, set up a restaurant business, but nothing had made sense. Life, after all, was not an easy game – and I, of course, was not the best player!
My teacher was my initial inspiration
I was born almost 10 months before India’s Independence on 22 October 1946. As an infant, I had no inkling about bloodshed and devastation that ravaged the sub-continent at the time of the country’s partition. Nor did I know the mishaps of our region. As I grew up, I heard stories of those harrowing times from my father, Sardar Ratan Singh, and mother, Prakash Kaur. Papa was a farmer and, as I was the elder among all my siblings, four brothers, Baldev, Trilok, Jasvir, and a sister, Rajinder, I took over the household responsibilities at an early age.
I would accompany Papa to our farms after school. In grade 8, one of my teachers, Gurbachan Singh, leaving for England, called some of us home and said anyone who works hard with dedication could do anything – that he could reach anywhere. His words inspired me. I decided to do something big in life and never settle for anything less.
After completing my matriculation from Government High School, Nurpur, I started my professional journey as a security guard in the Cooperative Bank, Dhilwan. My family, thinking I was now eligible, got me married to Jagdish Kaur in June 1965. A year later, I joined the Punjab Police as an assistant sub inspector (ASI). My senior, Swarn Singh, always loaded me with more work than the others. Obviously, I was resentful of his harsh overbearing attitude, but I did as I was told since he was my senior. Today, I am thankful to him as all that hard work made me strong.
By the early 1970s, my brothers had joined the Indian army. Our family was doing well and our parents were proud of us, but Baldev was killed during the Indo-Pakistan War of 1971. Affected by this tragedy, Trilok decided to leave the army. The entire responsibility of the family now fell upon my shoulders. It became imperative now more than ever to find additional sources to augment my income, so I started exploring other options. My brother-in-law, Hardev, settled in England, said it was challenging to settle abroad. It became clear to me that I had to do something different.
The journey that made me strong
About this time, we managed to apprehend one of the most wanted criminal gangs of Punjab. During the skirmish with the criminals, one of my colleagues was shot in the leg. Later, much to my chagrin, the criminals were released on bail. I felt completely let down and frustrated; I decided to resign and leave the force. However, the police didn’t allow to me until 1973.
When I discussed at home the idea of moving abroad for better prospects, Mata ji begged me not to leave, reminding me of my responsibilities towards the family. But I was persistent. In 1975, I went to Muscat, before moving through 35 countries in Asia, Gulf and Europe in various jobs. Later during the course of my travels, I was cheated and robbed of all my money in Singapore. One person cheated and ran away with all my money, which led to my deportation to Malaysia. But I went back and complained to the police, worked there for a year and moved to New Zealand, where I met an advocate.
In 1982, on his suggestion, we moved to Norway on the assurance that he had many contacts there. By a strange quirk of fate, he was deported the moment we landed in Norway. I was left alone in an alien land, not knowing what to do or where to go. I roamed the streets of Oslo, until I chanced upon an Indian restaurant that had opened the day I had arrived there.
In my decade of travels in over 35 countries, I had worked as a carpenter, painter, builder, and many more. Restaurant seemed like a much required and enjoyable sector. I somehow landed at the Maharaja Restaurant and asked for work. Listening to my story, they gave me food and shelter, and I worked there for the next four years. While working there, I realised there were some 4,000 Indians in Norway and only one Indian restaurant. When in 1987, this one flopped, I realised that now was my time!
If New Delhi in India is a national capital, I made one of cuisine in Norway
With the single Indian restaurant shut down in such a huge country, I looked upon this as a God-sent opportunity to start my own restaurant. Competition was nil and chances of success were huge: in 1988, I opened Natraj Restaurant with my wife Jagdish and sons, Mukhtiar, Karamjit and Baljit.
A quarrel between two workers in the kitchen prompted Hoshiyar to share in the kitchen duties. I reminded him his first priority was to complete his studies, so he said he would be able to manage both. His reply filled me with new hope and confidence. I agreed. Fully energised, I worked 18 hours a day and the business flourished. In 1990, we opened our first New Delhi Restaurant in Oslo. There’s been no looking back ever since.
Adding beauty to lives
In 1992, I contracted a throat infection to which the doctors could find no solution. My condition deteriorated so much that I went into a coma for six weeks. Throat infection could never be so disastrous! As my condition deteriorated and I struggled with life, my family’s prayed – “Either save him or take his life.” Miraculously, I came out of coma, but was bound to a wheelchair for some time. All this while, my sons had been looking after the business. This deeply moved me and once I started walking, we decided to organise Nagar Kirtan and a small langar during Baisakhi celebrations. But wondered whether the Norway police would understand the concept of sewa. Unsure, we went to parliament, where we had a branch of our restaurants, to seek permission to serve the people. When they learnt we wanted to do it for free, they happily agreed, and since then, every year we organise langar outside the parliament of Norway.
Looking back from where I came and what all I had seen in life, I also realised how much I had achieved yet not given back. So I also started a Kabaddi club and built a gurudwara in our village in India. In 1997, we started a stitching centre in Norway, where poor women learned and stitched to feed their families. My activities impressed so many people here that in 2004, a delegation from Norway came along with me to Punjab, where we all went to the Golden Temple.
My three sons, Mukhtiar, Karamjit and Baljit, along with my nephew, Harpreet, are my pride. I have always taught them all to perform sewa and do your karma. They have taught the same to our grandkids. Mukhtiar is married to Kulwidner and Karamjit to Dimplejeet. Both are blessed with two kids each. My youngest son, Baljit is married to Aminder and has three children. Although now we have been in Norway for almost half a century, we are still connected to our roots. Jagdish has taught Punjabi to all our grandchildren who are all well-settled.
I am happy about the fact that I could do this much in life for my family and my brothers’ families. After all, blood is thicker than water.
Philosophy
Problems come and go but we must be strong to follow our dreams.
I love…
Having sarso da saag and play Kabaddi. I started Shaheed Baba Deep Singh Sports Club with the aim of reviving sports in Punjab.
I’d suggest the youth…
To stop thinking log kya kahenge (what will people think). Respect every religion and their parents and avoid drugs.
Success Mantra
Those who cannot change their minds cannot change anything.
The world doesn’t know that…
I have been to over 35 countries but visited gurudwara every Sunday in my life, no matter where I was.
AKA
New Delhi Restaurant Oslo Founder | Gurdial Padda Indian restaurant Oslo
Gallery
ISBN : 9788193397695