Applying an analogy rooted in his profession, it won’t be an exaggeration to call him a purest of pure type IIa diamond. His zest and zeal to look back in time and connect the dots of a bygone era is the most striking feature of his luminous persona. Above all, his unconditional affability is a welcome breather in this era of “I, me, myself” social media broadcasts of narcissist ‘influencers’ insatiably hungry for followers in the guise of friends, likes in lieu of like-mindedness, and endorsements ahead of conversations.
It didn’t take me much time to sense the million narratives wrapped in his singular story which merit a cohesive retelling given their universal significance. It is only befitting that he found his calling, though not at first go, in the awe-inspiring enterprise called Shree Ramkrishna Exports Pvt. Ltd. founded by visionary entrepreneur and thought leader-practitioner Govind Dholakia.
Looking back in time at my behest, Ashish shared with me umpteen reminiscences of people, places, events, and reflections with no effort to separate the seemingly trivial from the apparently momentous, which is how it should be given the fact that nothing is inconsequential in life, and all dots connect to form an ever-evolving whole that human life is in essence and significance...
…like the defining Mantra of the Diamond industry, that business is not about transactions, it is about relationships which must necessarily rise above all odds. Upturns or downturns, epidemic or pandemic, geo-political turbulence or trade conflict, nothing should affect the highest standards of quality and ethics which are always non-negotiable. Think twice, thrice, as many times as you wish before committing, but once you give your word, verbal or written, honour it, come what may!…like his birthplace, his maternal grandmother’s home in Pariya, a tiny hamlet in the Valsad district of Gujarat, his formative years spent at Kalyan, a satellite town on the banks of the Ulhas River in Thane district of Maharashtra, in a modest chawl in Joshi Baug, a place now well known as a den for urban camping and nature retreats,
..like the highs and lows of his father’s life, son of a veterinary doctor, who studied in Gujarat but worked in Maharashtra, thanks to his ITI certification which had a module on water engineering, in the pumping house of a leading Dyestuff company where his job was to purify the water fed into the boiler for making the steam that powered the entire factory (as also his own home in consequence); who lost his job for vehemently opposing the management decision to sack a night duty employee based on hearsay following which he became a tea carton supplier to take care of his growing household,… like the significance of the year 1977 for his parents, in the form of two weddings: one, his father's marriage with his mother, and the other, his paternal aunt’s marriage with his maternal uncle, as part of a tradition called Sate-Lote or family weddings involving a reciprocal exchange of daughters,…like his favourite phase of growing up years when his father was inducted back into his job, having won the court case against his company, and the family moved to a spacious company-provided accommodation,…like the memory of his dad’s close friend Hasu Bhai Jalan, an apparel shop owner from Kalyan who helped the Desai family in its darkest hour of crisis and remains their ardent well wisher to this day,…like the tragedy that left the family shattered, when Ashish lost his mother at a time when he was only eight, preparing for his third standard exams,
…like the priceless memory of his mother, how she used to hand him a 25 paise coin for a rose-flavoured Gola after much pestering, how sipping the syrupy concoction made him feel, if only for a fleeting moment, that he had he had conquered the whole world,..like the invaluable life lesson from his grandmother Bhanu ben Hiru Bhai Desai, how one should always help others but never boast about it, and instead delete the instance from memory as if it never happened,…like the patronage he received from caring mentors at school (like teachers Rama ben, Suraj ben, Jayashree ben, Mamata mam, and Darjee sir; PT instructor Ramesh sir, house master Agastya sir, and principal Meenakshi Ben) which helped him recognize his potential, as also discover his innate fondness for mathematics, particularly algebra,..like his hostel days first, at the Soonabai Pestonjee Hakimjee High School adjoining the Gholvad beach, and later at HMPS Public School in Andheri, especially the fond memories of a picnic to the South painting and drama sessions on Sunday mornings, and stint as the house captain which earned him the nickname 'Captain',..like the never-ending financial struggles during formative years that taught him the virtues of resourcefulness, resilience, and adaptability, as also the art and science of juggling multiple responsibilities which later helped him conduct big-ticket business dealings across different continents,
…like the therapeutic pleasure of playing football on the sand or trekking solo on stiff mountains that fetched him peace and tranquillity amid the pressures of material pursuits, and the NCC camp with Gadre sir at Khadakwasla working on the simulator and firing gun shots, which harboured in him a starry-eyed ambition to join the armed forces,…like the powerful influence of Professor Namjoshi whose insightful lectures on auditing motivated him to pursue Chartered Accountancy, ditto for the personal guidance from Jain sir of Mahavir classes and Nandkumar sir of Enkay Classes which helped him master advanced accounting and taxation concepts,..like the eighteen month stint as LIC agent assisting his father’s colleague; Rs. 300 per month stipend was a princely sum for him in his F.Y.B. COM. days and the exposure told him all about the secret sauce of people interactions,…like the love and affection from his father figure neighbour Dr. Suresh Thakkar that helped him zero in on the right CA firm for articleship, the good doctor opened the doors of his spacious flat to help Ashish focus on his studies which was not possible in his own match-box flat,…like the first year of articleship at Harikrishna and Company, when he hardly spoke to anyone and spent most of his time at his chair next to the window, watching the swaying coconut trees outside;
…like the invaluable experience his firm gave him across different facets of work like audit, balance sheet preparation, and computation of income tax for diverse a clientele including proprietorship, partnership and private limited companies,…like the fraud he detected in a statutory audit of a bank's treasury chest, how one rural branch had granted eight animal loans with the same photograph attached as documentary evidence,…like the enlightening industrial training at Godrej & Boyce, where he honed his analytical skills and business acumen, preparing daily cash flow summaries for the CEO and doing the paperwork of the firm’s FDs and ICDs,…like his first interaction with friend and future wife Savita in the arid environs of a coaching class, and their strictly academic courtship en route the physically draining but intellectually fulfilling CA exam, articleship, and industrial training grind that finally culminated in a semi-decisive moment on a moonlit beach in Alibaug over Mangola sips when he proposed to her only to fetch a neutral response, which was neither a yes, nor a no (The ‘yes’ came later when she cleared her CA and he was still one group short of the ultimate triumph amid the demise of his grandmother)…like the special connect with Hotel Sea View of Alibaug where they had checked in as part of the audit team; many years later, they stayed at the same place to rekindle memories,..like the memories of another of his dad’s friends Dilip Vaishnav, a flute manufacturer who belonged to the lineage of the great poet Narsinh Mehta, and who learnt the flute purely by intuition as the direct blessing of Lord Krishna,
…like the chance interaction with Vaishnav uncle's son, student of IIT, Kharagpur who introduced Ashish to Sri Sri Ravi Shankar’s Art of Living and taught him Sudarshan Kriya; later, Ashish did the Art of Living course and his life changed forever; it was here that he learnt from a teacher about the Guru's love for disciples which was 100 times more than that of one's own mother. This line energised him from within. Till that point, he sensed a deep void in his life, having lost his mother very early in life,…like his journey through various industries after qualifying as a CA; a brief stint at HDFC as a credit card agent taught him the nitty-gritty of customer relationship management, while his role as audit team manager at a Bandra CA firm honed his leadership abilities, both experiences polished the rough diamond in him and paved the way for the shiny gemstone that was yet in the making,…like the true test of his character during his stint at a healthcare company, where his protest against unethical practices—much like what his father did at the dyestuff plant—cost him his job but reinforced his sterling commitment to ethical business conduct. The stress and strain of this toxic jolt drove him to seek solace in the Himalayas,…like the destined intervention from Babu Kaka, his former senior and mentor at the healthcare company, who unlocked a god sent opportunity in a diamond company. Coincidentally, some time back, Ashish had prepared an agreement for their commercial tie up with a well known brand which had won the management’s appreciation. Post training, Ashish left no stone unturned to comprehend Surat's diamond dynamics, grading procedures, and intricate sale processes,…like his first major sale, a $40,000 diamond to an Israeli businessman in Hong Kong, which was a moment of epiphany. The tiny gem was priced nearly as much as his spacious Borivali apartment, and this revelation expanded his vision manifold. His CA background gave him a unique advantage in advising clients on business matters as a trusted advisor,
…like the robust network of clients turned friends he built across diverse geographies, whether US, Europe, Far East, Australia or New Zealand, thanks to his multicultural adaptability,…like the counsel of his boss when Ashish was lured by a seemingly attractive commission-based proposition from an industry veteran that claimed to grow the luxury brand division by leaps and bounds. "We can't run the race for the longer haul on the crutches of someone else's support," these wise words reinforced his belief in building sustainable, ethical businesses based on intrinsic value creation,Going forward, Ashish has plans to seed many pioneering ventures across diverse sectors and given his innate ability and agility, success in those fields seems a foregone conclusion, but we have a humble request to him; never lose your umbilical connect with diamonds which has beyond doubt shaped and strengthened your core competence and value proposition.