Army discipline applied to printing: Shiv Darshan Singh, Shiv Printing Press, Purkhoo, Jammu
01 October 2020: My father was serving in the army. At that time I was working in a printing press in Delhi (I worked for about 2-3 years). One of my father’s friends’ told him “Why is your son working in a printing press. Tell him to join the army.” So, as per dad’s ‘order,’ I finally joined the army. My father retired from the army after serving for 32 years. So, when I joined the army, I was posted in Jabalpur. I requested them to give me work in the Army Printing Press since I had 3 years experience. I was lucky they accepted my request. So, I worked for about 15 years in the Army Press. I then got posted at Leh Ladakh, Dehra Dun, Jammu, Kanpur, Punjab, Kolkata, Sri Nagar, Gwalior from where I finally retired. I retired from the army in 2006 after 24 years of service.
We had a treadle machine and now we have screen printing, RISO digital, ColorJet flex printing machine and post-press facilities. We do not have to employ staff as all my family members are happily involved in the printing business; my two sons who are graduate/postgraduate, and my wife who is also a graduate. Because of quality, delivery and pricing, over the years, we have earned a good name in the market. Even, we get orders from far off customers including Jammu city where there is a hub of printing presses.
Owing to COVID-19, although there was no waste of stock or print jobs, our business was shut down for almost 3 months. Now slowly the market is opening up. We have no difficulty in getting raw materials as it is available from suppliers from Jammu who source it from Delhi. Now our printing press is located on Akhnoor Road in Jammu. The Indo-Park Border is about 8 km. So, people in big cities may ask as to whether we live in tension being near the border. No, not all, people here are peace-loving and we help each other at difficult times. Being a retired army person, now into the printing business, I follow certain discipline in business such as taking care of quality, timely completion of jobs, and often asking rough tough customers to mind their words.
