Om Prakash Sahgal, director, In Orbit Tours, has limitless energy and his key driver to continue with the same youthful zest is nothing but passion. He has survived many setbacks but everytime has bounced back stronger. By Reema Lokesh
From the packaging industry that dealt with lifeless objects to that of packaging tours for people who had the dream to enhance their industry skills, the journey of Om Prakash Sahgal into the travel and exhibition space was purely by default. He was born in Lahore in 1939 and as luck would have it he followed his parents to a city which they thought was a temporary shelter but eventually Mumbai remained home for good.
His journey
Whether young or old the passion to travel is rather universal. Some travel for pleasure, some to explore while there are few like Sahgal who travel to help others to benefit from his journeys. He rightly puts it, “The much in discussion ‘Make in India’ slogan was actually activated many years ago. In 1972, I led a group of businessmen from the packaging industry to attend world renowned trade exhibitions like DRUPA in Germany. They first went as buyers and then again as exhibitors to the same show. I was shocked to learn during my initial visits to Germany that from over a lakh people from 90 countries, there were only 12 Indians at the show! I knew there was something amiss. A large country like ours with only 12 representatives was just not acceptable.” With this mission in mind, he approached the German Consulate in Mumbai to support the small scale industry, which directed him to the Indo German Chambers of Commerce. He did not believe in giving up and approached Dr G Krueger with a plan to take a group of businessmen to experience German trade fairs. Crossing the challenges of logistics, among others, he finally took up the task to organise groups to visit industry exhibitions on his own learning the tricks of the trade while on the job.
Sahgal acknowledges the support of Nari and Adi Katagra to realise his dream. He managed to get together 43 businessmen to visit the trade show. Since it was a rather unique delegation, he felt it was time to sound it off to the then CM of Maharahstra, Vasant Dada Patil, and invite him to flag off this delegation. As a novice, he was nervous to speak in front of the CM and as luck would have it the oscillating fan messed up his papers which resulted in him delivering a speech rather impromptu on the trade mission’s contribution to enhance bilateral trade links and the economy in general. Sahgal also further shared that during those times one needed eight visas to enter Europe and getting them was yet another challenging exercise. An interesting fact was that during those years, the amount provided for overseas travel was only US$ eight and hence the famous Raj Kapoor song, ‘around the world in eight dollars’. “If we flew Air India then we would receive US$ 100 if not US$ eight. It was only in 1979 that Atal Bihari Vajpayee sanctioned US$ 500 for overseas travel every year. Amidst all these challenges, my mission to take delegates grew slowly and steadily. I gained my ground and I felt this was a unique opportunity to further the concept of industry focused tours/ trade fair tours. After the Germans, the Americans, Japanese, Koreans, Singaporeans and the Chinese approached me to visit their shows with Indian delegates.” His business started getting stronger by the day and he finally decided to officially start a travel company to cater to this niche business of trade tours. It was in 1982, that P L Kapoor, the then regional manager of SITA Mumbai suggested the name Organisation for Business International Tours, which was coined as (Orbit). It was inaugurated by Nana Chudasama around 30 years ago. However, as businesses do face their challenges Orbit Tours also had its share of setbacks in 2006. But this senior citizen decided to start work again by setting up another company called In Orbit Tours. Today he proudly says that the company is once again promoting over 100 international and domestic exhibitions and is now venturing into conducting highly specialised senior citizen tours. He was at the helm of affairs as chairman of TAAI Western Region from 2006-08.
His advice
Being true and loyal to one’s work is what Sahgal believes in. He says money without passion is nothing and firmly states that awards, rewards and recognition will come naturally if your work is outstanding.
His power packed day
He starts his day at 5 am with a 40 minute yoga session followed by a morning walk at Worli Sea Face. He meets his friends at the Worli Walkers Association from 6.45 am to 7 am for some breathing exercises, and from 7 am to 7:30 am he is at the laughter club. He goes back to yoga and reaches office at 9.45 am. He believes in the power of positive thinking and hopes to continue working with the same passion for his profession.
His awards
Om Prakash has received many awards and accolades throughout his career. To name a few:
- Honorary Citizenship Award by the Government of Texas, USA
- Ambassador of Goodwill Award by Government of Arkansas, USA
- Marshal of Oklahoma Territory Award, USA
- Ambassador of Germany’s Düsseldorf fairs in India Award for his dedicated service in promoting Düsseldorf fairs for 30 years
- INDO-GERMAN AWARD received in 1985, 1995 and 1999 for his outstanding contribution to the development of Indo-German Economic Relations
- China Tourism Ministry’s Top Award 2010
- Recently, the German Consul General Michael Siebert, honoured him for his outstanding contribution for promotion of business and leisure travel to Germany for over four decades