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Est. 1996

Issue 132

February 2008

ISSN: 1357-1168

A Year To Forget For Award Winner

For Raj Bajwe who won the title of "Front of House Award of the Year" in the 2006 Best in Britain Awards, 2007 was very much a year to forget.

After 20 years of using his considerable personal magnetism to attract the public and stars such as Michael Jackson, Mel Gibson and Keanu Reeves to his Café India restaurant in Glasgow, he was left forlorn in the ashes as an inferno raised it to the ground just before Christmas 2006.

In the aftermath he had to face a police probe into the fire, the shock death of his 72 year old mother and the end of his 13 year marriage to wife Simmi. Weaker people could have been destroyed by such a catalogue of events but the 43 year old is back looking forward to a better 2008.

"What hurt most," said Raj, "were the whispers after the fire that it had been a deliberate insurance swindle."

"I'll be honest," he added, "and say that 2007 was a period in my life where I've never felt so alone - I lost everything that was important to me".

Now the new Café India is open in a smart part of the city and the irrespressible Raj is back in full swing pulling in the business and on the lookout for a new soul partner. Any applicants should email R.Bajwe@ntlworld.com !!