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Childhood passions and fascinations generally diminish for many as they grow up, but for few others they have become goals to achieve in life, Biswajit Baruah, Son of Late Dilip Kumar Baruah and Rekha Baruah, a native of Guwahati, Assam has a similar story. A native Assamese staying at Belagavi, Karnataka is an inspired Bus Entrepreneur, Enthusiast, Journalist and a Amateur CV-Photographer.

Buses have been a childhood passion for Biswajit. A product of KLS Gogte Institute of Technology, Belagavi - Biswajit is the founder and CEO of Hive Sustainable Solutions, a Belagavi based start up company, which deals with providing sustainable solutions of bus fleet operations and bus industry as a whole, in India. Biswajit has worked previously as a 'Mentor and Director' of a Bengaluru based start-up 'Bus-Bucket' and its sister concern 'Ozobus' , before starting his own venture - 'Hive' at Belagavi. Biswajit has expertise in Automobile and Bus Journalism. His initial start up initiative of Blog Writing through his Bus Blog took him to work as a freelance 'Consulting Editor' to India's premium Commercial Vehicle Magazine - 'Motor India'. He is also a guest writer for Belagavi's premiere news and current affairs website - 'All About Belgaum'.

Biswajit started his passion as an amateur Bus Photographer and till date have captured more than 100,000 pictures of buses. He is fond of gaining and sharing technical knowledge about mechanics and electronics which drive buses. He also likes heavy commercial vehicles like trucks, excavators, cranes etc. Biswajit visits expos and exhibitions Pan India to meet people from the bus and CV Industry and to learn about products and latest technologies. His Blog and his facebook page - 'Biswajit - SVM Chaser' is followed by many top bus companies and OEMs for insights and feedback. Biswajit is well known amongst the bus fleet operators in India and is well recognized by the top operators like VRL Travels, SRS Travels and KSRTC in Karnataka, for his views and insights regarding sustainable bus fleet operations and services.

With a Pan-India approach, Biswajit stresses on the required effort for sustainable bus transport in India. He believes that Passenger Service and the Bus Crew Category is the most sought area, which needs urgent attention to bring streamline development in bus services across the country. He is currently working in the fields of Smart Mobility, Bus Codes, Inter-Modal Transport, Sustainable Transport, Biofuel Drivelines, Zero Carbon footprint initiatives, ITS (Intelligent Transport Systems), MaaS (Mobility as a Service), Big Data, PPP (Public Private Partnership), Smart Ticketing, Contactless Payments, Electric Drivelines, Smart City Initiatives, Passenger Safety and Security, Digital Solutions for Vehicle Maintenance and Monitoring.

Biswajit have been highlighted by various print and digital media in the country for his passion for buses, which includes - 'The New Indian Express', 'Times Of India', 'All About Belgaum', 'Scania India Blog', 'Vijayavani Karnataka (VRL Media)', 'Darshan Belgaum', and 'Vijay Karnataka'. He was felicitated by Rotary Club of Dharwad Central, Karnataka for his outstanding contribution to the Bus Industry especially in the areas of sustainable transport solutions. Biswajit, won the Indian Achiever's Award for the 'Promising Start Up' Category in 2022, adding another achievement to his tally.

Apart from India, Biswajit is followed by and contacted by top bus experts from European countries like Sweden, Germany, Belgium, Norway, Finland and Asian Countries like Bangladesh, China, Nepal and Indonesia. With a zeal for his passion for buses and commercial vehicle industry, Biswajit have dared to dream big on his entrepreneur ventures to develop Indian Bus Industry, encompassing whole of India.
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An interview with Sheikh Rizwan : PAULO Travels Branch Manager, Belgaum

11:43:00 AM Biswajit SVM Chaser 4 Comments

On the trail of my Personal Interview series of people associated with the Travel Industry, i got a chance of interviewing Mr Sheikh Rizwan, Branch Manager, Paulo Travels, Belgaum. Mr Rizwan, a good friend of mine has a vast experience in travels industry starting his experiences late back in 1994. 

Paulo Travels, owned by Mr Mario Pereira with its headquaters in Panjim (Panaji), GOA is one of the oldest operators in India, which started in 1930. Today Paulo Travels have a large fleet of buses including ac / non ac coaches, modernized with VOLVO B7R / B9R multiaxle VOLVO semi sleeper and sleeper coaches. Paulo is one of the few operators in India, who also have MAN front engine biaxle coaches. Paulo runs interstate buses from Goa to Karnataka, Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Gujarat and Madhya Pradesh. 

Mr Rizwan, a very friendly person is known to me from 2013. A helpful natured person, he has helped me a lot in clicking VOLVOs of Paulo travels which go through belgaum to various destinations. 

SHEIKH RIZWAN POSING WITH PAULO VOLVO B9R MULTIAXLE SLEEPER DOING GOA - CHENNAI 
MR SHEIKH RIZWAN AT PAULO HEAD OFFICE, BELGAUM 

Sheikh Rizwan Mohammad Hazrat, was into the travel industry at an early age after completing his SSLC. He started his journey early in 1994 as an agent for Noble Travels Belgaum, which had his head office in Bangalore. He use to book tickets for Noble Travels and handle buses in routes from Belgaum to Bangalore / Mumbai / Hyderabad. He continued working for Noble travels upto 1999. 

In 1999, Rizwan joined Hanuman Travels, which had its office in Belgaum. He use to handle the buses from Hubli to Mumbai via Belgaum of Hanuman Travels.

In 2001, he started working for Royal Travels, handling buses from Hubli to Mumbai in Belgaum , and continued in the same travels upto 2003. 

Rizwan shifted to Lucky Travels in 2003, where he managed buses from Belgaum to Bangalore upto 2004. 

Soon after 2004, Mr Rizwan had a gap period in Travels industry from 2004 to 2007 as he started looking after his Father's wholesale fruits business in Belgaum , due to some personal problems . 

In 2008, he made a come back in Travels industry by joining Ramya Travels as an agent. He also handled bookings of YES Travels and Sai Kiran Travels. and continued there upto 2010. 

After that he worked as a supervisor for a construction company, J.M. Enterprises and handled 700 labourers under him. 

Finally, in the year 2011, Rizwan joined Paulo Travels Belgaum, as an office staff. In 2012, he was promoted to Branch Manager and till then he is continuing his work until today in 2014. 

Upon being asked about his responbilities as Branch Manager in Paulo Travels, Mr Rizwan tells that he has many work to handle on his post as the Manager. He specifically handles bus schedules and looks after customer complaints, apart from other work. He also handles Bus checking, Staff matters, Bus maintenance, and Journey breakdowns if any. 


MR SHEIKH RIZWAN POSING WITH PAULO VOLVO B9R MULTIAXLE SLEEPER COACH IN BELGAUM

When asked about Paulo Travels, he tells that he is happy working for Paulo and further adds that he got positive response from the company for his suggestions and other works. He says Paulo is one of the few travel operators in India which have MAN front engine coaches plying to different routes from GOA. There are around 15 MAN biaxle buses in PAULO covering routes like Panaji - Mumbai, Panaji - Bangalore, Panaji - Shirdi, Panaji - Indore and Panaji - Aurangabad. 

PAULO MAN FRONT ENGINE BIAXLE COACH GETTING READY FOR DEPARTURE 
MR RIZWAN AT PAULO TRAVELS HEAD OFFICE BELGAUM 
MR RIZWAN AT WORK 
When asked about the inclusion of the latest industry favorite  - Scania buses in Paulo Travels, Rizwan added although he doesnt have accurate information about the same, but he says he his hopeful that the company may take some good decision in favour of betterment of its fleet. 

Upon being asked about his future, Mr Rizwan adds that he would like to work in Paulo Travels further and says he is having the best time in his career with Paulo as of now. 

It was indeed very nice to talk to Mr Sheikh Rizwan and bring forward his long and experienced journey from 1994 to 2014, a two decade long story in travel industry. 

I wish Mr Rizwan all the best in his future endeavours. The interview not only depicts the long struggling life of a person in travel industry but is also an inspiration to go ahead with all the ups and downs in this profession. 

4 comments:

  1. ukmadDecember 23, 2014 at 8:08 PM

    nice to read about people who are not in any limelight

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Biswajit SVM ChaserDecember 23, 2014 at 8:20 PM

      Yes, i always believe people who work hard should be brought into limelight. People like Sheikh Rizwan with 20 years of experience behind are the backstage people, controlling and maintaining all the buses, making it sure that we as passengers travel safely. Hats off to such people.

      Delete
  2. GEEPEEDecember 22, 2016 at 7:11 PM

    mr rizwan you are working with very bad bus service,pls check this website paulo travels.com you can book ticket but u cant cancel the ticket,this brings shame on paulo,i will spoil the name sure.
    thx
    gp

    ReplyDelete
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