Pramod Kumar Sharma
Managing Director
Wunderland Food GmbH | Hamburg (GERMANY)
Ancestry
Narowal (undivided British India)
Birthplace
Jalandhar, Punjab (India)
Residence
Hamburg (GERMANY)
Hundred TIMES A WINNER
He started as a dishwasher in Germany and today is a successful entrepreneur and the President of IOC Germany.
Times were completely different in the 1970s. The only two available car brands were Fiat or Ambassador, telephones had only five digits, things like TVs, photocopiers, etc, hadn’t yet reached the common people and Google, ATM, etc, were yet to make an appearance. In a scenario such as this, I was born on 6 August 1967 in Goraya. My father, Madan Lal, was successful businessman, manufacturing steel bearings and supplying all across India, under the name of New Bharat Engineering Corporation. My mother, Raj Rani, raised us four siblings, Vinod, Promila, Poonam and myself.
You never know what happens tomorrow
Of the four siblings, I was the most mischievous, both at home and school, yet my teachers liked me because I was active in sports and co-curricular activities. Without a care in the world, I believed in living life just for today, without a thought for tomorrow. But 1984 changed me completely. From a carefree, high-spirited teenager of 14, I became reserved and responsible after a stroke snatched away our father from us. It shook us all badly, not only emotionally but financially as well.
Probably in grade 8, I now saw everyone struggling hard to manage the life we once lived so comfortably when Dad was alive. Taking over the reins of business, my elder brother, Vinod, started travelling across India, but nothing worked. Most of our customers backed off from clearing old payments. Financial difficulties began to mount. The impending marriages of my older sisters, Promilla and Poonam, made matters all the more worse; however, despite all odds, we managed to make ends meet.
After finishing school from JSFH Khalsa Sr Sec School, Atta, I joined DAV College, Phillaur, to study commerce. During my college days, I started helping Vinod in the business. I then realised how difficult it was for him to run the household single-handedly. Around that time, some of my college friends put up my name for the students’ elections. It resulted in my entry into politics, and I joined the Rotary Club and the Indian National Congress (INC). By the time I completed college, I had become Rotary President. In fact, the former President of Indian Youth Congress and current Chairman of All India Anti-terrorist Front, Zinda Shaheed Manjinder Singh Bitta, appointed me the President of Indian Youth Congress, Jalandhar Rural.
Going abroad was a dream that came as a shock
Until the early 1990s, I helped Vinod in business and worked for INC. Far-fetched stories of money growing on trees in the West led me to seek my fortune abroad. One of my friends, Dharmender Kumar, settled in Canada, helped arrange a visa to Germany in 1992. Once I was in Germany, I realised there was no money on the tress, only leaves. Irony is, I then began working as a dishwasher in an Indian restaurant, Lavash, Hamburg. What a comedown in life this was for me! I would cry through the nights at my predicament, wondering when and how all this would end.
The biggest problem other than money was the language. I didn’t know German. So I started talking casually to anyone I met, tried to read newspapers or listen to the television. In this way, I was able to learn German and it certainly helped me professionally. I worked almost 18 hours a day without any holidays. Soon I started baking pizzas and later became a cook. I was so mad for work that when I fractured my leg in the early 1990s, the doctor asked me to take a week’s rest. I couldn’t afford a week’s rest, so I did not listen to him and worked nonstop, though I felt the pain for the next half a decade. In another incident, I spilt hot oil on my foot while I was making French fries. The restaurant owner, Manhoman Singh, was angry and asked me to leave. I was deeply hurt and looked straight in his eyes with a sad look. My silence spoke volumes and moved him to apologise and let me continue with my job.
In the mid of all these ups and downs, I met Manuela in 1994. She was German who worked with me. We developed a liking for each other and moved in together. When free, we hung out together. In time, my hard work paid off and I rose from the position of cook to manager. Then in 1998, Manuela and I had a son, Sergio Kumar. This was the deciding factor. I gave up my long-term plans to go back to India and decided to settle down in Germany.
If you are not optimistic, you end up as a loser
In 1999 business being bleak, my boss Manmohan had decided to sell the restaurant, Lavash. I stepped forward and expressed my wish to buy it. My experience in various departments of the restaurant had taught me how to turn a restaurant-in-loss into a profitable one. In a short time, the restaurant started showing profits. In 2001, I opened another one but this proved to be my undoing. I couldn’t manage two restaurants and we were forced to sell both the restaurants in 2004.
Losses were huge. Setback was big. But our optimism was even bigger. I started to work once again at October Restaurant. By 2008, I had once again managed to save enough funds to begin a business and started a wholesale of meat. Saturdays and Sundays were off yet if anyone asked for something, I made sure that it was delivered. This helped my business grow. This time I named my company Wunderland Food. Once this new business covered my previous losses and I was in a good position by 2016, I started a chain of steak restaurants, named Rindock’s.
This is my new life with new destination
In 2012, Manuela and I split up, and, on 14 July 2013, I got married to an Indian girl, Sumandeep. During this time, I met a few Hindus, who had been in Germany for over five decades. We built the Sri Hindu Temple, Hamburg. I became the President of that temple and recently I have adopted a government school in Ludhiana. As I was an active member of Indian National Army during my youth, Sam Pitroda made me the President of Indian Overseas Congress Germany. I also got the opportunity to meet Rahul Gandhi and Shashi Tharoor to discuss steps to help India realise its true potential.
Suman and I have a son, Aryan. All this while, Sergio has been with us. He has finished his BCom from Hamburg University and now supports me in my business. We are one small happy family. It is not only flesh and blood, after all, but the heart which makes us fathers and sons!
Philosophy
Never run after worldly possessions. Instead, try to make your life beautiful.
I love…
Spending time with my family and in philanthropy. Looking forward to helping others gives meaning to my life.
I’d suggest the youth…
To be fair in your work and never consider any work small.
Success Mantra
Success is a race that never ends. You cannot be content even if you are the wealthiest person on earth.
The world doesn’t know that…
I have spent endless nights, crying during my initial years in this country. It, perhaps, has made me so strong that I now never look back.
Gallery
ISBN : 9788193397695