LALITA Menon made quite a breakthrough in the field of business, successfully running a travel agency under the name of, Speedbird, since opening in 1975.
According to a The Fiji Times report on July 9, 1977, she said the basis of her business was friendliness and being alert.
“Keeping in touch with as many people as possible who are intending to travel, young and old from all walks of society,” Ms Menon said.
She ran her business single-handedly, making all arrangements to the last detail and dealing with all the officialdom concerning travel for their clients, from preparing itineraries covering world tours, suggesting interesting places of attraction and writing tickets to applying for passports and visas.
“It is not always easy.
“It becomes time consuming when visas are rejected and there are problems with obtaining passports,” she said.
Ms Menon said she had to make several attempts at times, visiting appropriate people and dealing with difficult cases, but with her expertise in public relations, she was always excited in the end. Her interest in people developed when she worked as a saleswoman 13 years prior.
“I ran a small retail shop for Air India in Lautoka before the aircraft started coming in and then I moved to Nadi.”
She made the decision to give up work, got married and then first of her four children arrived.
“I stayed home until my youngest child started going to school. Then the urge to return to work grew again.”
This time she decided to operate her own travel agency since she had enough previous experience and knowhow.
“I like meeting people and thought this was the only way I could keep in touch with them.”
When she was setting up her travel service, she received help from several airlines, particularly Union de Transports Aériens (UTA) and Pan American.
To keep up to date with conditions overseas, Ms Menon said she went on a three-month round-the-world tour to see for herself what kind of tours she could organise for her clients.
“I met people in the travel business and made contacts.
“I intend to take a group of tour to India at the end of this year or early next year.”
She visited the United States, Canada, London, Teheran, Delhi, Hong Kong and Singapore.
Ms Menon was also an insurance agent and her husband, Raj Gopal Menon, was an insurance representative for Life Insurance Corporation of India and New India Assurance.
Both the Menons were active in community affairs and she often handled general, property, accident and marine business.
She said she was always an enthusiastic supporter of her husband’s interests as her husband represented Lions Club of Suva board and was the president of the Fiji Professional Boxing and Wrestling Association.
Complied by: Wata Shaw
