ASIAN TIMES - Thursday 8 August, 1996

SUSHIL VERMA was born in 1935 in the holy city of Amritsar in a street just behind the Golden Temple. Sushil was part of a large family consisting of five brothers and six sisters. His father, Mehar Chand Verma, was a banker earning good money for his long hours while his mother was busy running the household. Mehar Chand was a very industrious man who studied hard for his banking examinations. There was no electricity in the streets or houses and so he would study, after returning home from the office, using oil lamps light until midnight. His efforts paid off and at the age of 35 years he became district manager of all the branches in the Punjab. This was before the partition.

In 1941 the family moved to Lahore, some 35 miles from Amritsar and Sushil recalls that these were his happiest days. Circumstances, however, forced them to leave the city. In early 1947 communal riots between Hindus and Muslims had begun. People were being slaughtered in the name of religion and thousands were killed in Lahore alone. Sushil relives the horror, "It was a nightmare to see houses being burnt down with people trapped inside. No one was safe. Groups of people would attack shops and houses, pull out people from homes and buses and kill them." Sushil was 11 years old and the whole family was at risk. Mehar Chand made the sole decision to send the family to Simla in northern India for safety. From Simla the family moved to Ludhiana, Delhi and then Kanpur, where they resided until 1954 and where Sushil continued his education.

Sushil got employment in the ministrv of finance and like his father studied in the evenings, after work, for his degree. He attended 'Camp College' which was especially opened for working people so that they could attend evening classes. The next four years were very busy for Sushil. He left for work at 8am, finished at 5pm and then rushed straight to college, often missing the first period because the buses were always late. He would return home exhausted at 10pm and start again the next day. This cycle continued for four years.

His job prospects bloomed and he was transferred to the newly opened World Bank office where he was the only Indian employee. He was sent to that office in order to maintain a link between the ministry and the World Bank. India was in need of economic assistance. Sushil enjoyed his time there, particularly as it enabled him to get his revision done for his exams. But then fate intervened in the form of his friend, Pritam, who also worked in the ministry. Pritam had the idea of settling abroad and asked Sushil if he would ever consider this. Sushil just laughed at the idea. However, Sushil did accompany Pritam to the passport office one day and on his insistence also filled in a form. After a few days Sushil learnt that his application had been accepted while Pritam's had been rejected.

Sushil did not know a soul in England but on March 6 1962 he was seen off by his family at Delhi airport with just three pounds in his pockets, the amount of Foreign Exchange permitted by the Indian government at that time. His parents joined him in 1973 and by then Sushil was a married man who had travelled and worked all over the UK and was finally settled in Slough. One of Sushil's great achievements has been the setting up of the Laj Marriage Bureau International which aims to serve the Asian community at large. The initial idea of a marriage bureau came from his mother, who would often help people find suitable partners. They had a wide social network and enquiries started pouring in and kept them busy. The 'Laj' was derived from his mothers name and 'Laj Marriage Bureau' is now famous throughout the world. He found that Asians are thinly scattered all over the country, and the same is the case of the US and Canada and Europe. It is a difficult task to find suitable and compatible partners. He attempts to ease the search by registering people of all ages, qualifications and professions.

Sushil is devoted to his career and regards it as a mission. He firmly believes that family is the oldest human institution. Marriage is the most important step in one's life and must be thought through carefully. Sushil's bureau boasts many success stories and while Sushil's main task is to cater for the needs of the Asian community, his organisation in increasingly gaining fame for multi-cultural marriages.

Sushil's motto is to work hard, "devotion to duty always brings with it good dividends." Laj Marriage Bureau International has been honoured in a glittering ceremony by the presentation of the prestigious 'Vijaya Rattna Award' for enriching human life and outstanding attainments.