Businesspeople From India

"They never listen to people like me or Asifa Khan the way they listen to Teesta Setalvad even though unlike her, we have no personal agenda. The media prefers talking to those who have made commerce out of other people’s problems. I call such people merchants of misery. Our country would be far more peaceful, and inter-community relations would return to being amicable, if their shops would shut down."

"We know what we want—shut down the Ministry for Minority Affairs; just give us our constitutional rights as ordinary citizens. The problem is that they do not give me my rights as an ordinary citizen and then they create the Ministry for Minority Affairs and give us a 15-point programme, which they have no intention of implementing. My message to the Congress Party is: Just give me my basic rights, as is being done by the Gujarat government; we want no special treatment."

"An important aspect of this riot was that it was not as simple as BJP vs. Muslims or just VHP vs. Muslims. Many Congress workers were equally involved. Some of these workers have also been convicted. I personally know of many Congress workers who took an active part in the riots. ...The Congress knows it was complicit in riots. This is the reason why the Congress does not want to mention 2002 in Gujarat but they scream about it only on national television"

"Then we began talking of all the riots and asked him: what were you doing on the morning of 27 February 2002? Why did you not call your police and the army? Why did you not go to Juhapura? Why did you not visit refugee camps? The questions that the [Supreme Court of India-appointed Special Investigation Team (SIT)] asked of Modi much later, we asked him all those questions that day."

"Maulana literally made Modi stand in the dock. It is Modi's maturity that even after winning the election with a thumping majority, he listened to all of that."

"It is not just Modi, but the entire Gujarati society has moved on, and is reconstructing a new equation with Muslims. After 2002, we took it upon ourselves to ensure that no Muslim child would be deprived of education simply because his or her family can not afford the fees or buy books. Many Hindus gave us money for it. For example, at the start when we sponsored a Muslim girl’s education in a medical college, one of my Hindu friends said that he will pay for that semester’s fee for the girl. That really boosted my morale and convinced me that humanitarian spirit is alive even in Gujarat. Those who say that there is a lot of Hindu-Muslim hatred in Gujarat are perpetuating a myth. That hostility stayed alive for some time after the riots. Even after 2002, once things settled down and the ice was broken, it is Hindus who extended help to Muslims to rebuild their lives. How much can the Muslims do alone?... Hundreds of Hindu families came for our daughter’s wedding. As the state is experiencing genuine social peace and security, inter-community relations have become far more relaxed. I tell my fellow Muslims, we also must take the initiative to promote social interaction. Muslims cannot continue to live in an alienated, insulated manner. We have not made much effort to familiarise our Hindu brothers about our culture....But today such social interaction has begun to take place all over Gujarat because the ruling party is not acting as a divisive force. It is providing a sense of security by upholding the rule of law. People don’t view each other with as much suspicion as they did when riots were engineered routinely."

"Because at that time Modiji used to talk of Gujarati asmita [identity], I said to Mr[.] Modi you are a slightly diluted Gujarati than me. He said: How come? I replied: You know that I am an Ahemadabadi and Ahmedabadis by all accounts are the purest of all Gujaratis while you are from Vadnagar. You are a very impure Gujrati. He said: "Yes, you have a point.""

"See how Modi met us! He kept track of what time we arrived in the building and came to the elevator to receive us. I was really nervous about the outcome of this meeting. He shook my hand and broke the ice saying in Hindi: “Aayo yaar!” Inside, there was a jhoola (swing). He made me sit next to him on the jhoola. .... After hearing us out with patience, Modi said some of your points are valid but many are exaggerations. ... We saw the point because in contrast to the 2002 riots which lasted 3 days, the riots during Congress regimes used to go on for months on end with some of these earlier riots producing a far higher death toll. The police as well as the administration were thoroughly communalized. It was widely known that the BJP/VHP etc patronized Hindu dons while the Congress party patronized Muslim dons. ... We were touched by the fact that he listened very carefully and gave us proper answers. He had all the facts on his fingertips. We had thus far experienced that Muslims don’t get a proper hearing from any one. We experienced the riots of 1969, of 1985, 1987 and 1992. No chief minister had listened to us. All those were Congress Party chief ministers. They never talked to us. ..."

"People who go on and on about the 2002 riots, choose to forget that it was the culmination of an endless series of riots. The worst riots in post-partition India happened in 1969 in Ahmedabad; more than 5,000 Muslims were killed in that massacre. But because there was no 24x7 media, riots in those days went largely undocumented, so no one outside got to know of the 1969 riots. It was a small incident involving a cow but it led to a shocking outburst. At that time, Congress Party’s Hitendrabhai Desai was the chief minister while Indira Gandhi was in power at the Centre. During the 1969 riots, our office, factory, everything was burnt down.... Forget about punishment, not even a single charge sheet was filed after that massacre. The Jagmohan Commission report is there for everyone to see. Entire communities were wiped out, without a trace. Why are people not talking about those victims? Has anyone documented what happened to those 5,000 families? Another major riot took place in 1985 preceded by several smaller ones. It went on for months on end. Again, our factory and our house were set on fire. In 1985, Madhavji Solanki of Congress Party was in power in Gujarat and Rajiv Gandhi at the Centre. Between 1985 and 2002, people came to expect that after every 2-3 months there would inevitably be a riot. At one time, the curfew lasted 200 days. During the 1987 riots also, Amar Singh Chaudhury of the Congress Party was the CM. This was followed by riots in 1990. At that time too, Congress Party’s Chimanbhai Patel was the chief minister. Again, our factory was burnt down. In 1992 also, it was set on fire. Chimanbhai Patel was the chief minister even at that time.... The truth is that while the earlier governments remained indifferent; after each riot, the Hindus themselves helped the rehabilitation of Muslims. I always say that if the Gujarati Hindus were 100 per cent communal, the Muslims would have been destroyed long ago. It is because Hindus are not communal that Muslims continue to prosper in Gujarat. All those riots were politically engineered and the Congress Party was the prime culprit."

"So I sent an email. I was not apologetic about anything. I wrote plainly, "Yes we had fought Modi. But now we feel that we have exhausted all the battle options and realize nothing will come out of it. I will become a hero in the process but I don’t want to become a hero. Therefore, I want to meet Modi and ask him, what is your problem with Muslims?" He forwarded my email to Modi sahib. I am told at first Modi got very agitated saying 'Zafar Sareshwala has created so much gadar against me, led so many demonstrations against me.' But I think he must have also looked into my family background and found that we are good people. I had stated very clearly that we have no agenda. We just want to meet and talk about 2002."

"Please note that when we asked for a meeting with Modi he was not yet a hero but one of the most hated figures; he was called Milosevic, Hitler, and so on. Now, there is a long line of people waiting to meet Modi sahib and competing with each other to praise him to the skies, but at that time no Muslim was willing to approach him openly.... Here we were praying in anxiety about our first meeting with Modi, when bang came the first headline against me: “Zafar Sareshwala takes a U-turn on Modi.” The very same people who treated me as a hero earlier, now attacked me furiously. .... All hell broke loose when I issued a statement saying, “We welcome the visit of Narendra Modi, who is the democratically elected chief minister of Gujarat.” Suddenly, from a hero, I became a villain... Because I am a businessman, I could absorb the attacks on me by the anti-Modi lobby. But the poor Maulana, oh my God, he was branded as kaafir. Bahut zaleel kiya unko. He was humiliated no end!"

"As soon as he came to know that I had arrived, he got his secretary to call me and find out when I intended to see him. When I went to meet him, he said, “Tell me about specific problems of the Muslim community. Muslims don’t have to vote for us but they should at least get their work done from the government.”"

"There is life after the operating table."

"Mine is a message of hope. As I said, as I was surrounded by a loving family, cherished by all of them, one thing was clear – if your heart has a reason to keep beating, it will. My hope is that stories like mine can inspire more potential donors."

"Do not view failure as the be all and end all. It does not define you. Instead, take what you have learned and apply it somewhere new."

"Not only is every single one of our cadets and graduates a source of great pride, but so too our ground-breaking work in promoting tolerance and diversity."

"If you don’t let current conditions drive your decisions, you can give your investment the time it needs to grow."

"Always look at the long-term opportunity. Take a business where you can see the long-term potential, then put in a management team you can trust to execute your strategy."

"As business leaders, we should resist the temptation to believe that learning stops after a bachelor's degree, an MBA, or a few years in the workplace. We need only be humble enough to accept the wisdom we are offered."

"It is Hindu philosophy that the more you give, the more you get. When I was a child, we used to visit the blind, the handicapped and schools where kids were without parents. It is about taking care of other individuals and to cherish what you have, you must take care of them."

"That’s not how you deal with the world. Eight people come and do something and you don’t jump on the entire nation."

"We have survived 75 years in a very happy environment where people could live together, leaving aside few fights here and there. We could hold a country together as diverse as India, where people on east look like Chinese, people on West look like Arab, people on North look like white and maybe people on South look like Africans."

"Now what is there to say about 1984? Talk about what you did in the last 5 years. What happened in 1984 happened. But what have you achieved?"

"I don't know what is the threat from China. I think this issue is often blown out of proportion because the US has the habit of defining an enemy."

"Such good relations we had that if there was any function that we had, then we used to call Musalmaans to our homes, they would eat in our houses, but we would not eat in theirs and this is a bad thing, which I realize now. If they would come to our houses we would have two utensils in one corner of the house, and we would tell them, pick these up and eat in them; they would then wash them and keep them aside and this was such a terrible thing. This was the reason Pakistan was created. If we went to their houses and took part in their weddings and ceremonies, they used to really respect and honour us. They would give us uncooked food, ghee, atta, dal, whatever sabzis they had, chicken and even mutton, all raw. And our dealings with them were so low that I am even ashamed to say it. A guest comes to our house and we say to him, bring those utensils and wash them, and if my mother or sister have to give him food, they will more or less throw the roti from such a distance, fearing that they may touch the dish and become polluted ... We don’t have such low dealings with our lower castes as Hindus and Sikhs did with Musalmaans."

"Twelve million people were displaced as a result of Partition. Nearly one million died. Some 75,000 women were raped, kidnapped, abducted, forcibly impregnated by men of the ‘other’ religion, thousands of families were split apart, homes burnt down and destroyed, villages abandoned. Refugee camps became part of the landscape of most major cities in the north, but, a half century later, there is still no memorial, no memory, no recall, except what is guarded, and now rapidly dying, in families and collective memory."

"Broad views about life have shrunk into religions, and we have been turned into their symbols. They regard us as empty symbols. Symbols of a religion, a nation. We mustn’t be trapped by that. In this war, let that be the ground of your contest. A ground that cannot be reduced to definition and detail."

"Ahmadabad is one of the largest towns in India, and there is a considerable trade in silken stuffs, gold and silver tapestries, and others mixed with silk ; saltpetre, sugar, ginger, both candied and plain, tamarinds, mirabolans, and indigo cakes, which are made at three leagues from Ahmadabad, at a large town called Suarkei.There was formerly a pagoda in this place, which the Musalinans seized and converted into a mosque. Before entering it you traverse three great courts paved with marble, and surrounded by galleries, but you are not allowed to place foot in the third without removing your shoes. The exterior of the mosque is ornamented with mosaic, the greater part of which consists of agates of different colours, obtained from the mountains of Cambay, only two days’ journey thence."

"The Mirat-i-Ahmadi briefly noted that when Aurangzeb arrived as Subadar in Ahmadabad in 1645, --vestiges of the Temple of Chintaman situated on the side of Saraspur built by Satidas jeweller, were removed under the Prince’s order and a Masjid was erected on its remains. It was named Quwwat-ul-Islam."

"Jean-Baptiste Tavernier, who visited Ahmadabad numerous times, wrote a short account of the incident, There was a Pagoda in this place, which the Muhammadans took possession of in order to turn it into a mosque. Before entering it you traverse three great courts paved with marble, and surrounded by galleries, and you are not allowed to place foot in the third without removing your shoes. The exterior of the mosque is ornamented with mosaic, the greater part of which consists of agates of different colours, Obtained from the mountains of Cambay, only two days’ journey from thence ."

"Amedahad being inhabited also by a great number of heathens, there are Pagods, or Idol-Temples it it. That which was called the Pagod of Santidas was the chief, before King Auranzeb converted it into a Mosque. When he performed that ceremony, he caused a cow to be killed in the place, knowing very well, that after such an action, the Gentiles according to their Law, could worship no more therein. All round the temple there is a cloyster furnished with lovely Cells, beautified with Figures of Marble in relief, representing naked Women sitting after the Oriental fashion. The inside Roof of the Mosque is pretty enough, and the Walls are full of the Figures of Men and Beasts ; but Auranzeb, who hath always made a show of an affected Devotion, which at length raised him to the Throne, caused the Noses of all these Figures which added a great deal of Magnificence to that Mosque, to be beat off."

"Another French traveller, Jean de Thevenot, who visited Ahmadabad in 1666, wrote a detailed report on the event, Amedabad being inhabited also by a great number of Heathens, there are Pagods, or Idol-Temples it. That which was called the Pagod of Santidas [temple of Chintaman built by Shantidas, a Jain merchant, in 1638 at a cost of nine lakh rupees] was the chief, before Auranzeb converted it into a Mosque. When he performed that Ceremonie, he caused a Cow to be killed in the place, knowing very well, that after such an Action, the Gentiles according to their Law, could worship no more therein. All round the Temple there is a Cloyster furnished with lovely Cells, beautified with Figures of Marble in relief, representing naked Women sitting after the Oriental fashion. The inside Roof of the Mosque is pretty enough, and the Walls are full of the Figures of Men and Beasts; but Auranzeb, who hath always made a shew of an affected Devotion, which at length raised him to the Throne, caused the Noses of all these Figures which added a great deal of Magnificence to that Mosque, to be beat off [broken]"

"The next monument visited was the great Jain temple built only a few years before by Shantidas Jhaveri, one of the wealthiest men of Gujarat in his day and high in favour both with Shah Jahan and after him with Aurangzeb. ...In 1638, however, when Mandelslo visited the place, this temple which he calls ‘ the principal mosque of the Banyas ’ was in all its pristine splendour and ‘ without dispute one of the noblest structures that could be seen’. ‘It was then new,’ he adds, ‘ for the Founder, who was a rich Banya merchant, named Shantidas, was living in my time. As Mandelslo’s description is the earliest account we have of this famous monument, which was desecrated only seven years after visit by the Orders of Aurangzeb, then viceroy of Gujarat (1645), we shall reproduce it at some length. It stood in the middle of a great court which was enclosed by a high wall of freestone. All about this wall on the inner side was a gallery, similar to the cloisters of the monasteries in Europe, with a large number of cells, in each of which was placed a statue in white or black marble. These figures no doubt represented the Jain Tirthankars, but Mandelslo may be forgiven when he speaks of each of them as ‘ representing a woman naked, sitting, and having her legs lying cross under her, according to the mode of the country. Some of the cells had three statues in them, namely, a large one between two smaller ones.’ At the entrance to the temple stood two elephants of black marble in life- size and on one of them was seated an effigy of the builder. The walls of the temple were adorned with figures of men and animals. At the further end of the building were the shrines consisting of three chapels divided from each other by wooden rails. In these were placed marble statues of the Tirthankars with a lighted lamp before that which stood in the central shrine. One of the priests attending the temple was busy receiving from the votaries flowers which were placed round the images, as also oil for the lamps that hung before the rails, and wheat and salt as a sacrifice. The priest had covered his mouth and nose with a piece of linen cloth so that the impurity of his breath should not profane the images."

"Being a man of considerable repute, Shantidas was unwilling to accept the wrongdoing to his religion, and personally presented the case to Shah Jahan.’ Though the lmperor had himself ordered that all newly built temples in Nanaras be pulled down,’ Shantidas’s position compelled him lo intercede. He consulted Mulla Abdul Hakim, who stated that since the structure was the property of another person, it vould not be regarded a mosque according to the Shariat (Virmizi 1995: 11). The Mirat-i-Ahmadi recorded that the !:mperor recalled Aurangzeb, and in his place appointed Dara the Governor of Gujarat. Shah Jahan issued a farman (dated ‘rd July 1648) to Ghairat Khan and other officials of the suba, Be it known to the governors, subadars and mutsaddis [officials], present and future, of the province of Gujarat, especially the one who has been worthy of various favours [here follow various honorific prefixes], viz. Ghairat Khan, who has been reliant on and gladdened by royal favours, that formerly, in respect of the temple of the leading person of the time (zubdat-al-akran), Satidas Jawahari, an exalted and blessed order had been issued to Umdat-ul-Mulk [pillar of the state] Shayista Khan to this effect: Shahzada [prince] Sultan Aurangzeb Bahadur had constructed in that place some mihrabs [prayer arches] and had given it the name of a mosque; and after that Mulla Abdal Hakim had represented to His Majesty that this building, by reason of its being the property of another person, could not be considered a mosque according to the inviolable Islamic law; a world-obeyed order, therefore obtained the honour of being issued that this building is the property of Satidas, and that because of the mihrab which the famous Prince had made in that place the above mentioned person should not be harassed and that the arch should be removed and the aforesaid building should be handed over to him. Now at this time, the world-obeyed and illustrious order has been issued that the mihrab which the victorious and illustrious Prince has consecrated may be retained and a wall be built near the same as a screen between the temple and the mihrab. Hence it is ordained that, since his exalted Majesty has, as an act of favour, granted the aforesaid temple to Santidas, he should be in possession of it as before and he may worship there according to his creed in any way he likes, and no one should obstruct or trouble him; also that some of the Faqirs (beggars) who have made their abode in that place should be turned out, and Santidas should be relieved form the troubles and quarrels on this account. And since it has been represented to His Majesty that some of the Bohras [a community of merchants who had been converted to Islam] have removed and carried away the materials of that temple, in the event of this being so, those materials should be got back from them and should be restored to the person referred to above [Santidas], and if the aforesaid materials have been used up, their price should be paid to Santidas. In this matter this order should be considered extremely urgent and there should be no deviation from or disobedience to it. Written on the twenty-first of the month of Jumad-as-Sani in the year 1058 H. [3rd July 1648]"

"The Mirat-i-Ahmadi commented that the open worship of the Jain murtis, “... mark(ed) the weakness of Islam and the decline of religious zeal.” Shantidas’s descendants obtained permission to bring those images on carts into the city, and installed them in an underground temple. The temple had long existed, and Jains used to worship there “secretly for fear of the Musalmans”."

"During the Subedari of religious-minded, noble prince, vestiges of the Temple of Chintaman situated on the side of Saraspur built by Satidas jeweller, were removed under the Prince's order and a masjid was erected on its remains. It was named Quwwat-ul-Islam."

"“Spelling is relevant knowledge.""

"“Spelling is not an artificial skin of verbal expression, it is a deep structure that is revealed in the spelled image.""

"I've always loved life. Those who love life can never adapt, undergo, be commanded. Who loves life is always with the rifle at the window to defend life ... A human being who adapts, who suffers, who makes himself commanded, is not a human being."

"Being one of the few women in the leadership team, I am often surrounded by men, but I have never found that to be uncomfortable."

"“In spite of the ruins and death, where every illusion has ended, the strength of my dreams is so strong, that exaltation is reborn from everything, and my hands are never empty.""

"As far as the founder Akshay Agrawal is concerned, he will always have an endless amount of wisdom to impart"

"I joined classfever for Akshay who is a really close friend to me but I stayed because I love the unique concept of this entire venture"

"As parents, we have always encouraged him [Akshay] to follow his girls, not chase grades"

"“I was a borderline computer science major before I came into interaction design; I’m really interested in physics and chemistry. This class was a way to throw design back into science and mathematics and help a community that is helping to give back to us.”"

"Don’t wait for a plan to materialize. Don’t expect perfection in your very first try. Just jump In AND PULL OUT. No idea is too big or small, it’s just the mindset which matters. Life is short, startup now!"

"It was easy. It was a classic case of the owner not believing in the idea more than anyone else. But now when I look back, I feel unthankful that we got no funding, else we'd have used all the money in more things. This forced us to re-invent ourselves from the ground up. The no-money module works"

"Everyone I was working with was elder to me, so they didn't really like taking instructions from me,"

"Lie and Lie until you succeed CAUSE IM A NICE GUY."

"I call my clients Uncle or Aunty hoping to get a proposal for their daughters."