Everything I am today began with one belief: service above self is the true motto of success.
I was still a student when I initially started working in my father's business. I would sell tyres for heavy vehicles, car, scooter and for higher purchase of vehicles and real estate.
I did not know it then, but I was learning the most important business lessons of my life. Soon I came to understand the business in detail, including its risks.
In 1977, I got married. In 1979, we were blessed with our first child, a daughter, and later with a son in 1980. As my family grew, so did my responsibilities, and soon I became a co-partner in the business along with looking after a family run rubber factory in 1978.
My father was my greatest inspiration and I learnt a lot from him. I believed there was no limit to growth and pushed myself to network, to meet new people, to keep learning and aiming higher. Something that stayed with me was that people without much education could do remarkably well in business, often better than those who were blessed with every opportunity. That fire drove me every single day.
It wasn't an easy road. I have many instances, and many learnings. Every day and week taught me a new lesson, and each month brought something new to look forward to.
Today I am satisfied and happy with my successful career as a businessman, but business was never the whole story. As time passed, I thought giving back to society is the important part of someone's life and this conviction has shaped my path. I have supported charitable initiatives, helped build schools and colleges for children, served as a trustee of a nursing college for girls, and been involved in food bank services. Today, I serve as Treasurer of the SS Jain Educational Society and help run the Hirachand Chordia Eye Hospital, which is a family run institution. Alongside these responsibilities, I also manage investments with the resources available to me, so that what I build can continue to serve both my family and the community.
I have also travelled around the world, and every journey taught me something different about culture, people, and their ways of living. I believe kindness speaks every language.
Looking back, I don't measure my life in terms of money or success. I measure it in the way I have lived. That is what service above self means to me, and that is the legacy I hope to leave behind.