An interview with Sheikh Rizwan : PAULO Travels Branch Manager, Belgaum

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.