"It all started in 1968, when BP Lachmansingh dared to travel from Suriname to the Netherlands"

How it all started.....

B,P, Lachmansingh is one of the best-known Hindustani entrepreneurs in the Netherlands. Every Hindustani household – of Indians from Suriname – has a product from their shop at home. He wholesaled religious articles: from images of God to supplies for a prayer service, from ritual clothing to rum from Surinam, with which some believers perform ritual ablutions. His son VK...Lachmansingh has expanded and expanded the business that was previously simply called Lachmansingh. He also changed the name to Bharat a few years ago.Kings. He did this from a marketing and modernization point of view. It took a while before Lachmansingh fully accepted all those changes in his business. His son was just as stubborn as he was, but that boy also had a vision that the father couldn't say no to.

Lachmansingh came from Suriname to the Netherlands in 1968. The second eldest son from a family of ten brothers and two sisters, was the first in the family to attempt the crossing. He came with the aim of studying medicine, but at a certain point he could no longer afford that study. His poor parents in Suriname could no longer support him. He had all kinds of jobs in different stores. The trade attracted Lachmansingh. He had learned to trade at a young age when he stood with a Chinese on the central market in Suriname. He turned out to be a true hustler, someone who raised his money through all kinds of trades and businesses.

He never unlearned hustling. A customer could simply ask for a bicycle tire in his business that specializes in religion, and receive it. Lachmansingh could get anything from anywhere.

In that 'everywhere of everything' also lay his roots in his entrepreneurship in the Netherlands. He started a dump shop with army clothing and army boots that he bought cheaply elsewhere. He gradually expanded his business to other sectors. In addition to his shop, he also had a real estate agency, a travel agency and a roti shop where he sold Hindustani delicacies. All this in that small building in the Transvaalkwartier in The Hague, in the lane that was invariably incorrectly called 'Paul Gluker' by the Hindustanis of the first generation.



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Meanwhile, he was married to Dea Khedoe in 1973

(R. Lachmansingh-Khedoe), but some things preceded that. Lachmansingh already knew her from Suriname. When he heard that she had also come to the Netherlands and worked in a nursing home in Baarn, he sought her out. When they finally chose each other, they could not yet marry each other, because there was no permission from his mother in Suriname. They started living together, which was rare among Hindustanis at that time. Lachmansingh followed the Dutch trend in which cohabitation was gradually accepted. Those who live here should adapt, that makes life easier, he thought. When his mother came to the Netherlands and saw how stable their relationship was, she agreed to their marriage. The bridal couple dressed in traditional Surinamese-Hindostan clothing. They traveled in a carriage that day, remembering the time when their parents and ancestors traveled by horse and cart in Suriname and India.

After a few years of hustling in the Netherlands, Lachmansingh asked his father what he should do next with his life. He then said: "Enter faith, for as long as the sun rises, faith remains."

That turned out to be Lachmansingh's most important decision ever. He never thought he would become so big in the business of faith. From the 1970s onwards he started purchasing religious products in India, and distributing and selling them in the Netherlands, later even throughout Europe, in Suriname and the United States.

On May 31, 1983, Lachmansingh received an honorary doctorate in religion from the reformist Hindu movement Arya Samaj in London, because he ensured that the sung story of the founder of the Arya Samaj, Swami Dayanand, was released on record worldwide. The fact that he did that was sensitive in his environment. He himself was of Brahmin descent – the highest caste in Hinduism, which felt superior to a movement such as the Arya Samaj. He came from an orthodox and very traditional Hindu family. But he released that LP because he felt he had the freedom to sell any product of faith to anyone who needs it.

As the Hindustani community in the Hofstad grew, Lachmansingh's sales market also grew. He successfully expanded his range. Hindustanis now form the largest immigrant population group, with 10 percent of the inhabitants of The Hague.

Lachmansingh also sold items for Muslims to use in their prayers and rituals. Not exactly befitting an orthodox Brahmin Hindu, but he just did it. His stubbornness and business spirit ensured acceptance within the community.

Life in The Hague was not easy. Rice, which they were used to eating in Suriname, was not available in the Netherlands at first, so they ate potatoes. Lachmansingh and his wife accepted it. As soon as it was possible, a shower was installed in the house and rice was cooked. If necessary he imported them himself.

Lachmansingh was not bothered by competition. Firstly because there was little competition with such a wide range, secondly because he didn't care at all. Its products used to be expensive compared to those of competitors who emerged later. His son does things differently, since 1997 he has started to delve into his father's formula and has successfully developed a passion to be close to the customer with their needs, he compares prices, looks at purchasing and looks at the design of the case.

Feeling and experience are very important, he sees Bharat Kings more as a building block for the youth of the future.

Over the years, his brothers also opened Lachmansingh's in Rotterdam, Utrecht and Amsterdam. That is why the son wanted to make a distinction and chose a different name, ''Bharat BP Lachmansingh The Hague'', Bharat Kings (Indian Superstore) became the Largest Hindustani store in Europe..and daughter Sawieta Dewie opened Dewie's Dream, a business specialized in women's clothing, jora jamas and accessories.

source:https://www.trouw.nl/home/grossier-in-religieuze-artikelen~a76dca69/