When I entered the office of Golden Ice-Creams in exhibition road, I was greeted by a man wearing a khaki half pant and a matching khaki shirt. His moustaches were kissing the air as if they were very proud of being taken care in such a handsome way. On top of his head was a khaki cowboy hat. I could have mistaken him for anyone but an ice-cream vendor.

The Golden Man of Patna, Ramavtar Tiwari referred to as Bhagat Singh by the kids and elders alike, we bring to you the story of this eighty six year old man who has been selling ice creams on the streets of Patna for the last 63 years.

Hailing from Gorakhpur, U.P., he Joined “Golden Ice-cream”, when it was the only ice-cream brand in Patna. It was the year 1955. Talking about his background, he says, “My mother died while I was just one year old, and then my father went along the very next year. I had completed my education till Matric(Secondary Education) when I joined the Indian Army in 1952. But I could not survive the cold of NEFA and Ladakh, therefore returned back home in 1955.”

Ever since, he has remained a part of Golden Ice Cream. On being asked about his long stay in a single firm, that too in an un-organised sector, he chuckles a bit and says, “If you stay at one place, your value in the company increases. Company considers me as family. Many other people gave me various offers, but I refused them all. I hear that people get bored working in a single firm these days. This company provided me the freedom of doing things as I like. And if you are happy doing what you like, I don’t think you would change your job”. His reply not just astonished me, but also reflected the beliefs and values that have been ingrained in this man.

His love and loyalty for his company has been well reciprocated by the company too. He gets great deal of admiration and support from the company which has provided him with a special e-rickshaw considering his age. Talking to PatnaBeats, the Director of Golden icecream Basu Tahalani was all praises about Ramavtar Tiwari or Bhagat Singh as he too likes to call him. He said, “Bhagat Singh has been a really hardworking and valuable employee for the company. And as trustworthy he is for the company the customers too have their full faith in Bhagat Singh. For instance, people have so much trust on his honesty that when he sells ice cream to kids playing in the streets and go to their parents to get the money, they never hesitate to give the amount he’s telling them as they know that he’s so honest that he’ll never ever charge them extra”

Talking about the special e-rickshaw that Ramavtar Tiwari uses these days Mr. Tahalani said, “He has been going around Patna selling ice cream on a push-cart (thela) for so many years. But with his age, naturally this put a lot of strain on his body. So we got this special e-rickshaw for him from Delhi and got it customized for his use. And this turned out to be profitable for us too as even at this age, Bhagat Singh (Ramavtar Tiwari) keeps on putting more effort and hard work in his job and with the e-rickshaw he covers over 25 kilometres every day now selling even more ice creams.”

Ramavtar Tiwari’s fascination and love for the great freedom fighter Shaheed Bhagat Singh goes back to his school days. Ramavtar Tiwari‘s dressing and his patriotism towards our mother land, the attire that he has donned for over six decades now, he credits it to Bhagat Singh itself. “Today, whatever I am, whatever I have achieved is only because of Bhagat Singh Ji. I took his name, his dress and everything. In return, I could only pay him my homage.”

During his initial years, he was a regular at Science College in particular and Ashok Rajpath in Genaral. Recollecting his memories he says, “I have served many people who are now celebrities. From Lalu Yadav, Nitish Kumar, Sushil Modi to Shekhar Suman and Satrughan Sinha, all of them would eat ice- creams from me during their college days.”

His ageing eyes have seen Patna through its years of development. He feels there has been an immense transformation to the city. Having pulled a thela for most of his career, Bhagat Singh is now learning to operate E-Rickshaw. He says the company has been kind enough in providing him with E-Rickshaw considering his old age. He runs the E-Rickshaw 20-25 km every day. He travels across the entire older town from Patna City to Kadam Kuan and Gulzar Bagh to Gandhi Maidan.

Dr. Arun Tiwari, he says is one of his oldest customers. None of his colleagues of that golden era of “golden” are alive. He is the lone ranger, with an army of young colleagues who are mostly of his grand children’s age. The factory was opened on 22 April 1948.

Coming from a humble background, he believes that, “one must remain honest. And nobody gets less or more than what one deserves.” His customers, who were small kids when they savoured upon the ice-creams from his thela, and are now settled in foreign lands, usually call upon him and generously give him 500 rupees upon meeting, whenever they come to Patna.

The times have changed since then, the competition in the market has increased. But there are two things that have remained constant for Golden and they are, “the quality of its products and Bhagat Singh aka Ram Avatar Tiwary.”

You can reach to him on Facebook and WhatsApp as well. He has his Facebook account where he updates his pictures every now and then.

You can find him at Ramavtar Tiwari.

If you remember him, your childhood was awesome 😉

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Quote of the day: “I belong to the people I love, and they belong to me--they, and the love and loyaty I give them, form my identity far more than any word or group ever could.” 
― Veronica Roth, Allegiant