The biography is titled “Success is our birthright” as I feel success is our birthright and is not a monopoly of individuals. There are six steps towards success. The first step is to DREAM. You have to be a dreamer and nobody can stop you. A person is not poor if he has no money, he is a pauper only if he has no dream as dream is the first step towards success.

The second step is TO THINK. From the first step of dreaming you have to come to the true world. So you have to convert your dreams to reality. Think realistically how you will go about achieving your target and that takes you to the third stage - TO PLAN. You have to plan your success and then you have to ORGANIZE. You have to organize the team who will go about putting your plans into action and that brings us to the fifth stage which is TO IMPLEMENT. A plan may be on the paper and it will have no meaning unless it is implemented. The last step is TO SUPERVISE and that is the role that I play. I am a supervisor and all the companies are doing their job. I come at the planning or the board level and every morning that I come in I know the barometer of my companies, which company is doing what. Today the Tatas, Birlas or the Rockefellers are running so may companies- it is not a monopoly of a few individuals to run companies, it is our birthright as individuals to dream and think big. If you think big you can become big and if you have confidence in yourself, others will have confidence in you.

If you have self belief in yourself and create the positive energy around you no one can stop you. And to add to that if you respect your own self, others will respect you. These are a few fundamental principals of life. Do good- even in the Bhagavad Gita it is written that you should do your duties to the best of your ability: results are in the hands of God and not in your hands. Leave no stone unturned and if you give your best in whatever you do, you will achieve results which leads to success.

Who was the inspiration behind starting of Priyadarshni Academy and how has it grown over the years?
There were two reasons to start the Priyadarshni Academy- the first one being, I wanted to give back to the society and I was not a bright student in school and studies was not my priority at that time. My priority was to support my family as we were living in a joint family and we had come to India during the partition days from Sindh. I used to do business even during my school and college days. My father tried his best to encourage me to be a graduate. However, I was not inclined towards studying and I used to focus only during the final exams and manage to get through. When I went for my first job I was asked whether I was a graduate, whether I knew accounts and it was a humiliating experience as I wasn't qualified for the job. However, I had my own dream and finally I landed up with a job. Later in the 1960s I joined a company called Boysons where there was a Managing Director and many others working under him. It is that time my horizons changed and I visualized myself heading a company one day so I started identifying areas where I was lacking and the first thing was the qualification.

I started reading extensively biographies of successful people, inspiring stories from business magazines such as Life and Time. I worked a couple of years in Ghana as well as in Nigeria where they used to speak broken English including sentences like “try no they kill person” . So these two years were a setback as far as language practice was concerned. However the sentence, “try no they kill person” was something which I stuck by which meant keep trying and never give up, by trying you will not die. This was a strong message to never give up till you succeed. So that way I started thinking in the direction that I had dreamt- one day I will be a Chairman, I too will have 500 people working under me and I will own a Mercedes car of my own and I realized that you have to work hard as there is no shortcut to success. You have to work hard and think big and develop communication with intellectual people.

Another story which inspired me was that the lion is the King of the Jungle. So if you are friendly to the lion, no other animal dare harm you instead they start respecting it and later in life I had the opportunity of interacting with Prime Ministers and Presidents as well as addressing both houses of Parliament. I should be the friend of dignitaries at an equal level in terms of respect and not be under somebody.

Later, I also read the Power of Positive Thinking and that too inspired me to work in the right direction. Reading books like Kautilya's Arthashastra will help youngsters to move ahead in life and keep on trying rather than succumbing to depression with the stresses of society. I had such a tough life in my younger days and faced adversities but today I am successful and achieved what I dreamt as I never gave up.

When I became the President of Indian Merchants' Chamber, we decided to create awareness about Kautilya especially as at the Chamber we deal primarily with Trade and Commerce and Kautilya's Arthahastra deals with subjects such as internal trade, external trade, taxation, H.R., administration; it is one of the finest publications on Management. I have been reading about Kautilya and was highly impressed and the man who had written this book has put down some amazing facts.

In fact Swami Vivekananda had said that India is sitting on a throne of knowledge and time will come when India will be recognized as the knowledge centre of the world which is very true today.

As part of the Priyadarshni Academy, we wanted to encourage students who do want to go for higher studies and couldn't afford it. We give 75 scholarships every year. So the first objective was to provide financial assistance. During the 26 July 2006 deluge we gave funds to 350 students who lost everything during the heavy floods in Mumbai. Secondly, we wanted to encourage upcoming artists - they don't get opportunities although they are talented. So we have three programmes in a year, one of which is the National Integration of Dance and Music. We organize shows and upcoming artists can participate and display their talent.

What are the various activities promoted by Priyadarshni Academy?
Summarily, Priyadarshni Academy is involved in the Priyadarshni Awards which is an annual event for the past 22 years, then we have the National Integration through Dance and Music to preserve the rich Indian Heritage and traditions through the promotion of Indian fine and performing Arts and upcoming artists. We also organize workshops and lectures by spiritual leaders for personality development, empowerment of individuals and promotion of the concept of natural living. Laughter Therapy or Hasyayog, Sindhu Darshan. Scholarships as well as sports promotion endeavours also have been taken up by Priyardarshni Academy.

When was the first Priyadarshni Academy Global Awards initiated and what is the purpose behind the award and the criteria for selection of individuals in their field of specialization?
Priyadarshni Award is the Nobel Peace Award of India - all the whose who of the world are part of the event and we always start on time and end on time. For the last 22 years we have not changed the date or time or venue - The Priyadashni Awards are held on 19th September every year irrespective of the day,

I used to read in the newspapers about different awards and I thought that India is a huge country with an abundance of talent and so we thought of launching the Priyardarshni Awards. We start the function on the dot at 3.00 pm and who's who which include the captains of industries - educationists, media persons, social organization heads, industrialists all are present and over the years there have been people coming across the globe and have been recipients of award. From U.N., senators and even high level dignitaries across countries have received the award. The awards which were held in 2006 was also broadcast live on television and my dream has come true and this has become one of the most prestigious awards of the country. Our high level power committee analyse the achievements across various disciplines.

What exactly is the Vedic Research Centre and tell us about the Vedic Research Project.?
Dr. Vijay Bhatkar is the one who had made the super computer. When there was a sanction on India after the first nuclear blast took place at Pokhran during the regime of Late Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi, everything came to a standstill as the US did not want to give super computer to India. The then Prime Minister called upon Dr Vijay Bhatkar to develop a supercomputer in India on receiving the requisite funds which at that time was to the tune of Rs 60 to Rs 70 crores (600 to 700 million rupees) which was required for R&D of the super computer. The money was sanctioned and the supercomputer was made by Dr Bhatkar in India and the whole world was stunned.

As Priyadarshni Academy we joined hands with the India International Multiversity and Dr Bhatkar and we run jointly a Vedic research centre in Pune in various disciplines. The Centre aims to delve into ancient text and teachings- the Vedas, the Upanishads and unravel the gist to discover the mysteries of mind and matter.

Thus, the Vedic Research Centre seeks to foster the study, rediscovery and presentation of the wealth of knowledge for the betterment of society. The research scholars at the Vedic Research Centre have carried out advanced research in areas ranging from Vedic Mathematics and its application in IT including Internet to the Vedic View of Universe and its compatibility with the modern findings of science.

You had introduced the Hasyayog as part of the Priyadarshni Laughter Club? How does Hasyayog help in our day to day lives?
When laughter clubs started becoming popular, people approached me to take the laughter clubs at an international level and I believe in the stressful lives that we lead today even making someone laugh is in itself a service to humanity. When I used to go to the garden in the mornings, I used to see senior citizens who had nothing to do at home and they had no fellowship. So these laughter clubs have inculcated a spirit of fellowship especially amongst senior citizens and today millions of people across the world get up early in the morning, go to the garden and be a part of the several laughter clubs which have come up today.

Here, I would like to share an experience of one of the senior citizens who mentioned to me that when he used to fall sick, he had nobody coming to see him, but when he became a member of a laughter club, so many of the club members came to see him and he felt on top of the world. That was the time I started realizing that somebody cares for me and I am needed and then I started self realization where I am going wrong. I started understanding my children better, stopped criticizing them and they also started loving and caring for me and the most important thing is that besides creating fellowship it also takes away the stress from your lives. I would say that Priyadarshni has saved a few lives who became part of the laughter club that we started and there have been experiences of people who were isolated and on the brink of committing suicide. This has brought a lot of goodwill and it is mushrooming all the world. Even a team of doctors has done research on how it has helped people change before and after joining laughter clubs.

You are affiliated with several associations and business houses as well, how do you manage this multi-facet responsibility?
I have been delegating work to people and they become decision makers and that saves my time and enables me to handle the multi-facet responsibilities. This way I have lot of time at my disposal.

You are devote Mumbai-ite, what are your views about the current status of the city and how it can be turned into a truly global city?
Mumbai is already on its way to becoming a truly global city - the infrastructure is improving, flyovers have been built across the city; the Bandra-Worli sealink is also on its way, Marine Drive is being refurbished, so quite a few developments are happening and being a member of the Citizens' Action Group I have regular interaction with all the decision makers - the Chief Minister, the Prime Minister, the Commerce Minister as well as the Finance Minister.

I also played a pro-active role in Mumbai development and got different political parties together to form a common consensus for developing Mumbai. Today, after having achieved what I had dreamt when I had joined my first job in the 60s, I am spending 90% of my time on social and burning issues whether it is trade, commerce as well as the society and have regular interaction with Ministers, Industrialists as well as the members of the Parliament.

Your message to readers.
Today, things have changed as everyone wants quick results which is not possible and at the same time the tolerance level has gone down. The exposure to the idiot box has made children a lot more vulnerable. Ethics and values are missing. In the long run, hard work, respect for elders and educating yourself should be the priority. Being focused and adopting the path of righteousness will make you a true winner in the long run. Do not fear failures as failures are the stepping stones to achieving success.

For parents and teachers, I would like to add that they should not judge the students by their marks or the percentage they score as everyone has talent and some of the bigger success stories are of those who have been school drop outs. Too much stress on children should be replaced by love and affection and most importantly the parents should give time to their ward which is not happening today. Always encourage your child in whatever he wants to pursue by always backing him and instilling a sense of confidence in him.

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