What would be the son of a billionaire, who owns diamond business of worth Rs 6,000 crore, doing in Kerala? The possibilities are visiting the state's famous tourist spots, staying in five-star hotels by the end of the day and splurging his 'pocket money' from his super rich dad on things that he likes while hanging out with friends, right?
But the 21-year-old Dravya Dholakia, son of Gujarati billionaire Savji Dholakia, is in Kochi, learning the hardships of life. When Dholakia senior, the owner of Hare Krishna Diamond Exports, worth a whopping 6000 crore, sent his son all the way to Kerala, he had a clear idea in mind - he wanted his son to leave the silver spoon which fed him.
The plan set for Dravya by his Surat-based billionaire father had three clear conditions. He could not work in the same place for more than a week, he could not use his father's influence, nor could he use the Rs 7000, his only help from home, unless there was an emergency.
Dravya, who is pursuing his MBA in the United States, was given this hard task when he came to his home country on a holiday. Accepting the challenge, Dravya decided to come to Kochi as he did not know Malayalam and Hindi being scarcely spoken here.
He first worked at a bakery in Cheranallur, then at a call center, a footwear shop and a McDonald outlet. And it was nowhere near easy for him. He had no job or place to stay for the first 5 days and was rejected in around 60 places when he went seeking a job. Now, Dravya says that has learned the value of job in just a few days.
Whatever the hardships be, Savji Dholakia was sure, as he told news agency ANI, “I wanted my son to learn the value of money, and to deal with challenging situations in life”.
This is not the first time Dholakia, the billionaire, is surprising us. In 2013, the company, with an annual turnover of over Rs 1,000 crore, gave its 1200 employees flats, cars, and jewelry as a token of gratitude to them for helping the company grow!
By sending his son to Kochi to find odd jobs and survive on his income, it seems like the Dulquer Salmaan-starrer Malayalam film ABCD (American Born Confused Desi), has moved from reel to real life.