The story of Vijay Varma is a testament to perseverance, transforming from a child laborer earning pennies to the head of a multi-crore construction empire. Born in October 1978 in Bisau village, Rajasthan, Varma faced immense hardship early in life, losing his grandparents and father by age 11. His mother's struggle to feed six children often meant trading collected firewood and dung for meager flour rations.
A Childhood Defined by Hunger and Resolve
In the late 1980s, Varma's elder brother found work ferrying lunchboxes, earning ₹14 a week, a sum that briefly brought rare treats like vegetables and milk to the family. However, this stability was short-lived. By age 12, driven by desperation, Vijay decided to join his elder brother in Mumbai, against his mother's pleas. Their initial days were marked by sleeping on wooden planks above a gutter in Ulhasnagar, then moving to Pune with a mere ₹200 emergency fund, only to be robbed on a railway platform.
A compassionate stranger, a Muslim 'chacha' who maintained railway toilets, offered them food and shelter, a small mercy that helped them survive. For 18 days, the brothers washed dishes for a vada pav vendor, earning a paltry ₹3 a day each.
The Breakthrough in Construction
Fortune began to shift when Rajasthani contractor Niradhar offered renovation work at Mangala Theatre. Too young to be officially hired, Vijay helped an elderly woman sift sand, impressing the contractor with his speed and dedication, which led to him earning ₹8 a day. Over months, they honed their skills in tiling, plastering, and RCC, regularly sending money orders home.
After a year, they returned to their village with ₹65,000 hidden in tiffin boxes. Emboldened, they recruited six young men from their village and approached builder Vimal Kumar Jain. Initially dismissed as 'just children', Varma's unwavering confidence secured them an impossible eight-day deadline for a 15-day sample flat, with no pay if they failed. They completed the project in just three days, earning Jain's stunned admiration and a ₹5,100 blessing. This pivotal moment led to the establishment of their first company, Shyamsundar Cheeranjeevlalji Construction.
Building Sai Vijay Construction into a Juggernaut
By 1994–95, Shyamsundar Cheeranjeevlalji Construction had grown to employ 350 workers. The firm expanded further, reaching 850 workers by 1998 with an annual turnover of ₹8 crore, which increased to ₹20 crore by 2004–05.
In 2008, Vijay Varma founded Sai Vijay Construction, formalizing it as an LLP in 2011. Despite facing an income tax inquiry in 2017, the company emerged unscathed due to its meticulous record-keeping. Today, Sai Vijay Construction is valued at ₹160 crore, boasting international projects worth ₹730 crore in countries like Oman and Yemen.
Varma's Code for Enduring Success
At 48, Vijay Varma attributes his success to a simple yet profound philosophy: honesty, hard work, and perseverance. He emphasizes that he has never shortchanged anyone, a principle instilled by his mother. Beyond his business acumen, Varma also pursued education later in life, completing his 10th grade through open schooling in his 30s, followed by a civil engineering diploma and a PhD. He now shares his journey and insights with engineering students, inspiring the next generation.
Varma's path was not without its scars; an incident in the early '90s where police mistook him and his brother for thieves and beat them without explanation left a lasting lesson: the importance of building genuine relationships and keeping respectable company. In quieter moments, between managing ledgers and overseeing construction sites, Varma finds solace in singing Marwari folk songs and learning the piano, reclaiming fragments of the childhood he sacrificed for survival.