This Gujarati Billionaire Sent His Son To Kochi To Earn For Himself And Learn Life Lessons

India is a land filled with rags-to-riches stories. Every day, we see people rise from the ashes and make a name for themselves, and everyone’s story is a motivational one. But you would never be able to guess what this Surat-based diamond merchant, whose net worth is Rs. 6,000 crores, did with his only son.

Owner of Hare Krishna Diamond Exports, Savji Dholakia, sent his 21-year-old son, Dravya, to Kochi with only Rs. 7,000 to fend for himself and work odd jobs to know the importance of struggle.

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Image source

“I wanted him to understand life and how the poor struggle to get a job and money. No university can teach you these life skills except experience.”

Dravya is pursuing his MBA in the United States and is on holiday in India. His father asked him to try this challenge for a month, and Dravya readily accepted.

There were to be three conditions:

1. Dravya was not supposed to use his father’s name or influence to get things done.
2. He wouldn’t work at a place for more than a week.
3. He would only have Rs. 7,000 for emergency purposes, which he shouldn’t use for his daily expenses.

 

Dravya chose Kochi because he didn’t know to speak Malayalam, and Hindi isn’t commonly spoken there. It was difficult for him, but he came through.

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Image source

“For five days I had no job or proper place to stay. I was frustrated as I was rejected at 60 places, as no one knew me here. I understood what is rejection and the value of a job in these few days.”

Dravya first worked at a bakery in Cheranelloor. Following that, he worked at a call centre, a shoe shop, and also at a McDonald’s outlet. He said he earned Rs. 4,000 in the month, but it was difficult to even make ends meet, because he couldn’t even score a Rs. 40 meal in a day, and he needed Rs. 250 extra for his lodging.

I think this was a brilliant idea to get his son to learn the hard truths of life and to not conform to his privilege.


News source: The Times of India
Cover image sources: 1 & 2

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