ASSAM: Dhodar Ali has known Deben Kakoty ever since he was a boy. Fifty years ago, when ‘Dhodar Ali’, a kutcha road back then, was being paved, a 13-year-old Deben Kakoty toiled on it all day long as a labourer. Today, that young boy has turned from a pauper to a well-to-do businessman of upper Assam, owning a shopping mall and a hardware store that straddles across 3.4 acres.
Kakoty was born in the nondescript Balikhatia village of the erstwhile Sivasagar district. His father, a poor farmer, barely dragged the family of eight. So, at a very early age, Kakoty opened a ‘pan’ shack by the side of Dhodar Ali in Sapekhati, a small town in upper Assam.
“Our financial condition was very poor. My father would often seek food from people to feed us. We could hardly afford one meal a day. I was in school when I started the pan shop. I would wake up early and do some business before going to school. In the evening, I would open the shop again. Eventually, I had to quit school,” the seven-pass says.
In due course, Kakoty opened a roadside ‘gumti’ (kiosk) with whatever savings he had. However, it was dismantled soon during an eviction drive. At a loss, he moved to Dibrugarh where he worked at an eatery. In exchange for his services, he could eat there, allowing him to save some money. After three years, Kakoty returned to Sapekhati and started a pan shop.
He experimented in garment trade, opened a grocery store. Then, handing over the store to a brother, Kakoty set up a hardware store in 1999, selling only iron bars and cement. “That was the turning point in my life,” Kakoty says.
The hardware business picked up soon enough, and with the proceeds, Kakoty set up a shopping mall only two years ago. “I grew up in a thatched house. I had a dream that I would one day build a beautiful house and I did it indeed. Despite struggles for years, I never lost hope. I wanted that my children must not see my struggle,” says Kakoty who, now, owns a spacious two-storey house.
He buys his hardware materials mostly from outside Assam – granite and marble from Rajasthan, Gujarat tiles, and West Bengal rods. “Business has taught me that one must have patience to rise in life. The youth of today surrender easily when there are early setbacks in businesses. You don’t get success overnight,” Kakoty says.
“I want my sons to do business. Start from scratch; have patience and dedication. You need experience to grow in business, so start small. You will certainly face challenges, even failures. It is for you to learn from them,” he adds.
“My only regret is that my father did not live long enough to see my success. But Dhodar Ali haas seen it all,” Kakoty muses.
Dhodar Ali, which translates to ‘lazy man’s road’ or ‘sluggard’s road’, stretching from Kamargaon in Golaghat to Joypur in Dibrugarh, passes beside Deben Kakoty’s business complex. The 212-km-long road constructed by Ahom king Gadadhar Singha around 1687, stands a dumb witness to his remarkable rags-to-riches story.