Sarbjit Singh Thiara
Agriculture
CEO, Thiara Company | President, USA Kabaddi Federation | Owner, Royal Kings USA | Yuba City, CA (USA)
Ancestry
Harkhowal, Hoshiarpur (Punjab)
Birthplace
Nangal Kalan, Hoshiarpur, Punjab (India)
Residence
Yuba City, CA (USA)
THE PHOENIX: HE NEVER SAYS NEVER!
One of those self-made men who know that you can’t give up when you want to achieve something, he has time and again faced failures falling down to zilch, but always risen back!
Born on 2 December 1962 to Sardarni Mohan Kaur and Sardar Mohinder Singh Thiara, I was the eldest among three siblings. My grandfather, Sardar Beant Singh Thiara, was a simple and giving man, though without much education. When his brother decided to move to the USA, my grandfather chose to stay back in his village to look after the farms. However, when I was eight, my father decided to try his luck in the States.
I had just joined a school in a neighbouring Athwal village in grade 4 and had attended school just for a day, when my family was on its way to San Francisco, a world full of opportunities and uncertainties. It was 1970 and Dad had started with just $8. I don’t remember much of the three-day-long journey, as I was busy vomiting for the major part of the journey. He later told us that he had spent $4 on whiskey on the way!
Upon arrival, my Mom and Dad took up jobs as migrant farmers. As Mom was more educated than Dad, she got a better job and joined Sun Sweet on 15 December 1975, a workplace she serves till date! I joined Lincoln Elementary School, but my interest lay in machines, so much that I requested my mother to buy me a tractor. Laughing, she asked me, “What would you do with it?” A real tractor wasn’t a possibility but she did buy a house the same year which I liked a lot. Toy trucks did happen, though!
While they worked hard and listened to my dreams, I took the responsibility of my five-year-old brother, Jaspreet, and two-and-half-year-old sister, Sukhvinder, doing almost everything for them in my parents’ absence; I even cooked food for them while our parents were busy making ends meet. At times, Mom took the two along, but most of the times I babysat them as she had to leave as early as 4 am. I worked the summers with Dad on the farms picking peaches. I remember, I once earned $12 working 16 hours on a farm. I call it my first salary! Those days were probably the best time I had with him; watching him, I realised hard work was a tough thing to do, but how good its fruits were.
I just cannot take ‘no’ for an answer
After completing my high school diploma from Yuba City High School, I joined Yuba College to earn an Associate Arts degree and graduated in 1981. I also did a lot of mechanic courses. I started driving tractors and doing other farm-chores with Mom and Dad. We were the best team. In the early ’80s, Dad rented some land from dada ji’s brother, Bhagat Singh, and started commercial harvesting. Later, when we were able to save some money, we bought some farming equipment; thus we started afresh, in bits and pieces. Hardships, however, seemingly were in love with us. Many of them, like floods, fluctuation of commodity prices, excessive rains, happened… but we never gave up. At times, when I felt low, Dad would always pep me up and fill me with new energy.
While I was busy understanding the tricks of the trade and expanding our farming business, my nana ji2 dropped a bomb. It was an era when Punjabis settled in the USA did not want to go back to India and were marrying into other non-Punjabi communities. He provoked Mom claiming that I too would never marry an Indian. When my mother told me about it, I was shocked, which in turn surprised her. I immediately advised her to go to India and find me a suitable match. But we had limited finances. My grandfather, who had joined us in the USA a couple of years earlier, then convinced her to get me married in India as soon as possible. The two of us flew to India, leaving behind dada ji, Dad and siblings, where I got married to the beautiful Bakshinder on 7 February 1984.
I can handle rainy days
We returned to the USA within a week. Bakshinder turned out to be a lucky charm. Later that year, we purchased our first farm, a land of 200 acres for $20,000. In 1986, we bought some trucks and ventured into trucking too. The grass was green, the roses were red and I was on cloud nine! But then came the regulations in 1992–1993, which forced me to stop trucking and file for bankruptcy. I went back to farming. More bad news still awaited us. Sometime later, one of our lead customer, a Fortune 500 company, went broke and we lost everything, once again. But the worst was yet to come.
In 1995, I had started building my dream home. By the time it was 95 percent complete, it caught fire and burned to the ground. Although I was devastated, but could I have given up? It took me nine years to rebuild everything from scratch. However, had it not been for family’s support, especially my wife’s, fighting back every time would have been harder. While I was busy working 16–18 hours a day, trying to reshape my career and rebuild my fortunes, she was effortlessly raising our three children, Jasmin, Junior, Harmon; and my parents’ only concern was to keep me motivated. Sometimes I regret that I didn’t get the luxury of spending much time with my kids. But you can’t have everything in life; there is always some sort of trade-off.
The guy upstairs is watching your moves!
God is the real force behind your success and watches over you constantly. When we came to the USA, we literally had only $4, but today He has blessed us with a comfortable life. My parents have aged gracefully and are still fit to work; I have 6000-acre land where I grow peaches, prunes, almonds and walnuts; my children are well-educated and help me in the business. Junior is married to Navneer and Harmon to Gurdeep. Jasmin studied psychology and business, and looks after the company’s accounts and management. I cannot thank Him for blessing me with the best of everything and, therefore, I try to carry on His legacy by serving those who are weak.
Besides involving myself with the local social events like nagar kirtan3, I also have a Kabaddi team, Royal Kings USA. In my team, I pick good players from poor families. If they are interested, I help them migrate to Canada to play. I can simply provide them some financial aid and be done with it but I prefer making them self-dependent. The belief if I can save one family from facing the hardships that I faced keeps me going. Today, many of my players are well-settled and have a house of their own.
I also contribute to Sikh Temple Tierra Buena, Yuba City, where I have been the General Secretary for the last five years and Board of Director for 20 years. Never forgetting things back home, I lend a helping hand to the hospitals, gurudwaras and poor families in India. When asked what keeps me going, I rest my case saying “the never-say-never attitude and the zeal to learn and do something has been driving this Sardar for the last 57 years.”
Philosophy
When you want something, go for it with full vigour. I have followed it all my life and have got everything I wanted. There is nothing in my life that I wanted but did not get.
I love…
Sports and spending time with my Kabaddi team. I own the Royal Kings USA and I am also the President of the USA Kabaddi Federation.
Success Mantra
Once I fix my goal, no NOs stop me!
I’d suggest the youth…
To be positive. Always remember your bad times and don’t question God’s intent when you face hardships.
The world doesn’t know that…
I don’t have a social media account, though I also produce and at times act in movies. I follow a strict regime to stay fit.
Gallery
ISBN : 9788193397695