“A brick a day will eventually turn into a building,” father Viswani would whisper to his little son as he got ready to set out to work at the break of day. It’s something Jiwat never forgot; it came to define him. Today, Jiwat Viswani is Meghalaya’s foremost hotelier – a man whose properties exude his love for the land and its cultural heritage; a man who has redefined the hospitality industry in the region, brick by brick.

Understanding business from the ground up, rather than sitting in a classroom, always made more sense for Jiwat. After struggling through school and a few months of college, Bablu, as he is fondly known, decided he’d learn life’s lessons by starting at the very bottom of his father’s business. And so, in 1981, he became a bellboy at Hotel Broadway, one of Meghalaya’s first hotels and his father’s pride and joy. The hospitality industry was still in its nascent stage in the state, but Bablu understood, almost intuitively, that a customer must be treated like a king on his property. He cleaned and filled water bottles, checked the plumbing and electricity and made sure that the hotel guests were all comfortably ensconced in their rooms. Bablu’s tireless dedication to his work convinced his father that his son had made the right choice by quitting formal education and choosing, instead, to get his hands dirty. After all, it was he who had taught Bablu about the importance of building a business brick by brick.

Very soon Bablu involved himself in helping his elder brother start the Blue Pine Hotel. He focussed on ensuring that guests were always served uncompromisingly good food. The Broadway restaurant that he started with his brother, made a name for itself by serving the best Chinese cuisine; the Bamboo Hut very quickly came to be known for serving excellent Continental food; the Baba Tourist Lodge which he opened by himself in 1997 served outstanding Bengali and Assamese food and in 2005, the newly-opened Dhaba restaurant came to be known for the state’s best Indian food. In 2017, armed with his invaluable experience of building a business from the ground up, Bablu ventured into the state’s most sought-after destination, Sohra or Cherapunjee and opened Jiva Resort. This was his labour of love. “Look, over there,” he says excitedly, pointing through the lush greenery that forms the backdrop of his property, towards Bangladesh. All the cottages in this tranquil property overlook the neighbour country.

But Bablu isn’t just about his hotels and restaurants. Locals speak of his innumerable acts of kindness, of his love for the environment, of his untiring efforts during the Covid19 pandemic, of how he dropped what he was doing to drive a hundred km to attend to an ailing staff member. No wonder, his staff swear by him. “It is in giving that we enrich our lives,” he says. 

There’s a sense of contentment that comes through when Bablu speaks to The Northeast Stories. It’s contentment that stems from knowing that what he has achieved has been through sheer hard work. And for that, he credits his father’s exemplary work ethic. “When our business was still in its infant stage, I would watch him wake up early in the morning to start his day ahead of everyone,” he says.

“A brick every day will eventually turn into a building,” was the ethic his father taught him. It is what he, Bablu,  lives by.  There is, after all,  no shortcut to building a successful enterprise, he says even as he cautions us against taking nature for granted. “We are just tourists on this planet’.

Who is your biggest inspiration?  

My father remains my inspiration. I recall, whenever I asked him for money, he gave it to me only with conditions. He would let me first clean the windows, the house or the garage and only then would he part with the money. That was how he inculcated values in me and my siblings. He taught us the value of money early on in life.

He was a man of discipline and had a remarkable sense of timing for everything that he did. He valued his time. Never have I seen him late for anything. He passed away in 2007. But when it comes to my children, a daughter who is 24 and a 21-year-old son, I am somehow not able to emulate my father when it comes to being a little tough with them.

How did you get into the hospitality business? What was your first project and what did you feel when you achieved that?

My father started the hotel Broadway in 1979 and I joined him in 1981; Broadway restaurant with my brothers and then Baba tourist lodge on my own. 

I felt nervous.

What is your most memorable experience when you were starting your venture?

After having interned and had my hands dirty doing almost every possible thing at my father’s hotel, I decided to branch out. So, I took a loan of Rs 80,000 from my dad to start my own business. That was how it all started for me. My dad, of course, never even asked me to return the money.

What are your memories of growing up in Shillong? What did you initially want to do in life?

I grew up studying at St Edmunds. I was a bad student, failed in grades 4 and 8, and then was requested to leave Edmunds. Then I joined Anthony’s for 9 and 10. I scraped through metric 3rd division. I joined college for a few months and realised it’s not my cup of tea. So I joined my father in his business. I started as a bellboy in hotel Broadway.

I don’t think it’s fair to judge a person by their academic performance only. My friends then told me that the school did not understand me. I was a regular student and never missed school. I simply could not perform in academics, that, perhaps, was my shortcoming. When I was in the first year of college, I asked my father if I could help him. At that time, my dad ran one of the first hotels in the state. Hotel Broadway – he started it in 1979 with just 15 rooms on GS Road. I joined in 1981 as a bell boy. I like to work hard and do whatever I can. I did marketing, plumbing, and electricity –  I had my hands in all the pies. During those days we had beer bottles for water and no jugs. I would clean it myself.

I would take customers to their rooms. I took the day to day accounts and learnt the ropes there. My father saw my dedication and I think he realised that he liked me working with him.

Later, I also worked under my elder brother when he started this hotel called Blue Pine Hotel and then Bamboo Hut which was known for Continental food.

In 1996 my brothers and I opened Broadway restaurant where we served the best in Indian and Chinese cuisine.  In 1997, I  opened Baba Tourist Lodge, a homely hotel with 25 rooms. We served Bengali and Assamese food. And in 2005, we opened the city Dhaba –one of the best for Indian food. De Ja Vu is another fine dining Chinese restaurant that I opened. In 2017, I opened the doors to Jiva Resort in Sohra or Cherapunjee.

The success of tourism depends to a gr

eat deal on the attitude of locals. What is your take on this?

Indeed, tourism has great potential in Meghalaya. If I am earning 100, Rs 80 goes to the vendor. Tourism is a big economic factor for growth in our state. I care about the environment and continue to do as much as I can with my team to protect, preserve and maintain to ensure that we do not further destroy it. Even simple things like waste dumping – seems small but it has deep repercussions and I feel troubled by careless citizens’ attitude. We are lucky that we have waterfalls and people keep coming back to see them again and again. But we must keep it clean. We earn our bread and butter through tourism so we must keep the place beautiful. Employment will be generated out of this industry and it has to. And I welcome the healthy competition that comes with the big brands.

What do you think is the way forward for Meghalaya or the Northeast as a region, to have a very controlled and sustainable model of tourism?

We can learn from other countries that share similar topography as our region and are doing well. Some Asian countries, for instance, can be our model and we can always draw inspiration from their best practices. The same sensibilities must prevail even in the upkeep of our state. Shillong is growing and evolving and almost saturated with tourists. The newer destinations are around the capital city. Umiam lake, for instance, is a great option as it is away from Shillong which is clogged with traffic and rampant constructions, and in complete serenity with nature. That’s why Sohra will continue to be looked at as a good destination for tourists. The place is mesmerising with waterfalls and caves and it has a unique charm.

You have grown considerably in your venture. What is your success mantra? 

Hard work and consistency can get you anywhere. I try to my best extent to mind my own business and focus on bettering myself each day. I am blessed with good people around me. My team gives me great enthusiasm to work. At the core of my heart, I believe we are all tourists on this planet.