Partition Refugee Built 150,000 Radios a Year for India

In 1947, Raja Singh crossed the border during Partition as an 11-year-old refugee, leaving everything his family owned in Rawalpindi behind. He arrived in India with no money, no education, and no plan except to survive.

The young boy took any work he could find, from manual labor to selling vegetables on the street. But while struggling to make ends meet, he noticed something important: radios were too expensive for ordinary Indian families.

In 1961, Raja Singh launched Jupiter Radios without a single degree or investor. Within years, his factory was producing over 150,000 radio sets annually, bringing cricket commentary, music, and news into homes across the country.

Then he set his sights on something bigger. When televisions were still luxury items reserved for the wealthy, Raja Singh launched Texla to build budget-friendly TV sets for middle-class India.

His timing couldn't have been better. As Doordarshan expanded in the 1980s and cable television arrived, Texla TVs quietly filled living rooms across North India. In Punjab alone, the brand commanded nearly 95% of the market at its peak.

For millions of families, childhood memories flickered to life on Texla screens. Entire neighborhoods gathered to watch Ramayan together. Families crowded around for cricket matches, sharing every boundary and wicket.

Why This Inspires

Raja Singh never forgot what it meant to lose everything. After the 1984 riots, he offered jobs to victims, saying simply, "I know what it is to lose everything." Through the Guru Ram Das Charitable Trust, he built schools and colleges to give others the opportunities he never had.

The refugee boy who once sold vegetables went on to bring television to millions, but he measured success differently. He created jobs for those who had none, built schools for children without access, and proved that formal education isn't the only path to extraordinary impact.

Raja Singh passed away on February 28, 2026, at age 90 in Ludhiana, leaving behind glowing screens and even brighter memories.