Diamond merchant send his 21-year-old son to learn life struggle

A Billionaire dad sent his 21-year-old son to Kochi in Kerala, India, and do odd jobs there.

A Gujarati diamond merchant, a proprietor of a Surat-based £6bn company with presence in 71 countries, persuaded his only son to go to Kochi incognito and survive doing odd jobs for a month.

Dravya Dholakia doing an MBA in the US was on holiday in India arrived in Kochi on June 21, 2016, with only three pairs of cloth and £70 ( Rs 7000)  that his father instructed should be used only in an emergency. “ I gave him to follow three conditions, he needs to work to earn his money and he could not work at a place more than a week, and can’t use his father’s identity nor use the mobile phone nor £70 taken from home for a month. 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 practical experience.” Savji Dholakia, proprietor of Hare Krishna Diamond exports.

Darvya accepted the challenge and it was decided that he should go to a place he was not familiar with and where the language would be new to him and search for jobs.  “He decided to come to Kochi as he didn’t know the local language Malayalam and Hindi rarely spoken,” said Dholakia. For five days he had no job or proper place to stay and was frustrated and was rejected at 60 places in his search for a job. He lied to his prospective employers that he is a class XII student born in a poor farmer’s family in Gujarat. Dravya first got a job in a bakery in Cheranellor, then he worked in a call centre and even in a McDonalds earning about £40 ( Rs4000) in a month. He was struggling to get one time meal worth  £0.40p Rs40 and needed another Rs250 per day to stay in a hostel.