Delhi 6 owner pays tribute following the death of his "kind-hearted" businessman and community figure dad

Owner of Indian street food restaurant, Delhi 6, Shah Lalon Amin, said he was “overwhelmed with grief" as he gave the heartfelt tribute to his father - and the inspiration behind his business - Shah Ruhul Amin, who passed away on Sunday, January 12, aged 80.

A well-known business owner and former president of the Tyne and Wear Bangladeshi Association, Ruhul Amin, of the Lawe Top, moved to South Shields in 1972.

In 1975 he opened his Indian restaurant, Raj Dulal on Ocean Road - in the same premises where his son would open Delhi 6 more than four decades later.

The restaurant was one of the most popular of its day, but after 10 years he was forced to sell when he returned to Bangladesh to care for his mother who fell ill with cancer.

“He made a promise to my grandmother that he wouldn’t leave her but when he came back the business wasn’t the same,” said Lalon, who fulfilled a childhood dream the day he opened Delhi 6 in 2018.

“It was a really hard time for us and I always thought I would buy that restaurant back one day. I’m so happy he got to see that, I know how much it meant to him.”

Back in South Tyneside, Ruhul, went on to open the Eastern Touch in East Boldon and Rumi Rumi Cottage in South Shields, before retiring in the 90s.

But as well as a successful businessman, the dad-of-six and grandfather-of-nine, was a well-known face in the community.

From the 70s-80s he was president of the Tyne and Wear Bangladeshi Association, before becoming one of the founders of the South Tyneside Bangladeshi Muslim Cultural Association.

Hundreds of loved ones paid their respects at his funeral on Monday, January 13.

“He was very popular in the Lawe Top area, everyone knew him as a gentle, kind-hearted person, who always had time for everyone,” said Lalon.

“He gave me a lot of guidance, one of the last things he said to me was about the importance of having integrity.”