Always have a successful EXIT than a favourable ENTRANCE because what matters is not being clapped when we arrive, but being remembered when we leave,' CMD of Raj Travels World Lalit Sheth said in his last text message to his friends and colleagues on July 13.
Always have a successful EXIT than a favourable ENTRANCE because what matters is not being clapped when we arrive, but being remembered when we leave,” CMD of Raj Travels World Lalit Sheth said in his last text message to his friends and colleagues on July 13.
Friends and industry insiders are stunned at the news of his suicide. “It’s unbelievable that Lalit Sheth could take such a drastic step as I have always seen him smiling even in the toughest of circumstances,” said Ajay Prakash, president, Travel Agents Federation of India (TAFI).
Sheth came to Mumbai with just few thousand rupees after the death of his father in the 1970s. After failing to set up a chemist business, he started the tours and travels office from a small place at Masjid Bunder in 1976. “Soon he revolutionised the tourism industry with innovations and business sense and became a source of inspiration for many during the 1970s and 80s,” said Prakash, who claims to be knowing Sheth since 1982.
Raj Travels initiated the idea of packaged tours keeping in mind the community sensitivities and became very popular, especially among the Gujarati community.
He started the provision of the Indian food by taking an Indian cook referred as ‘Maharajas’ during the stay of tourists in foreign countries.
The industry insiders say that such was the growth of his company in the 1990s that Sheth managed to start an airline by the name of Raj Air during the earlier days of airline industry liberalisation in India. Though it became popular in a short span of time due to the good will from his tourism business, the airline soon met with the end like other airlines started during those times. Later, he also started 150 luxury buses, which too failed miserably, the insiders reveal.
The tourist with Raj Travels fondly remember the innovative tour packages offered by the company like dining on the 107th floor of World Trade Centre, Dinner at Planet Hollywood, among others.
“Being a religious person, I am very particular about the food I eat. While on my trip to Singapore about five years ago with friends and family, I was a bit apprehensive about getting to eat veg food.
But all my tensions flew away when the managers at Raj Travels with whom I chose to fly offered us the service of a Maharaj (cook),” said Lalit Shah, a businessman from Andheri.
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