Meet Hiro Harjani, the man who built an international brand by selling wife Radhika's diamond ring
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(From left) Hiro Harjani with wife Radhika and son Dheeraj Pic/ Bipin Kokate |
Meet Hiro Harjani, the man who built an international brand by selling wife Radhika's diamond ringFIFTY-million-dollar turnover fashion label Aftershock's owner Hiro Harjani, wife Radhika and son Dheeraj are at a lunch table, eating a vegetarian meal. Harjani loves to eat non-vegetarian food, but he looks at Radhika and says, "She is a vegetarian so if I feel like eating meat, I eat out."
The Harjanis live and run their business from London. Invariably, the conversation steers towards the November 26 terror attacks in Mumbai. "My nephew and his wife were killed in the Taj attack. I am extremely upset. What is the government doing? They are not focusing on the issue here. A radical change is required in politics. Many of the MPs have criminal records. It's ridiculous."
That's prompted this businessman along with some of his friends to initiate a website called
https://www.wakeupindia.co.uk/, where everything they know about corrupt politicians are up for everyone to see.
Says 22-year-old son Dheeraj, who handles the website, "Our site was hacked once." Hiro adds, "I was recently speaking to a Swiss banker friend and he estimates that at least 20 per cent of the money in banks there is owned by Indian politicians. If that money came back to India, just imagine how much development work can be done with it."
So affected is Hiro by the terror attacks that he is contemplating coming back to India. "I was two-three years away from semi-retirement till this incident happened. Now I am thinking I should return. Perhaps, to urge people to fight the corrupt system."
His wife Radhika who heads the design team of Aftershock, interjects, "He doesn't understand how difficult it will be to weed out corruption."
Hiro left for London 25 years ago after he married his childhood sweetheart against the elders' wish. When asked about that, he lightens up to recall the day he came over to ask for Radhika's hand. "Her father was sitting on that couch over there. I told him, 'I want to marry your daughter'." I was 19 then and Radhika 17. He asked, 'Have you gone crazy? Dekho bhaiyya, you are a Sindhi and you eat meat'."
"Some day if I make a movie I am going to call it 'Dekho bhaiyya'," he laughs, inviting angry looks from Radhika.
Eventually, at 22, Hiro married Radhika and left for London. Building a brand that makes its presence felt in several countries with 72 shops wasn't easy.
Dheeraj, their son, says, "Dad had to sell mom's ring to start his business."
Hiro and Radhika laugh. "That's true. Radhika had a five-carat diamond ring. I sold that to buy my first store.
She didn't want to sell it, so I asked her if she wanted the diamond ring or a business," he says, with a laugh.
"Dad bought her a wedding ring only last year, that's 15 years late," joins in Dheeraj. "The ring you sold wasn't five-carat. It was seven-carat," Radhika corrects Hiro, who replies with, "How does it matter?"
"It does because this ring you bought for me is half the size," Radhika continues. To that Hiro replies with a smile, "At least it got you an international brand no?"u00a0
Explaining himself, Hiro says, "I don't believe in gold. I invest in properties instead. When I went to London, I didn't have a roof over my head. I guess I had this insecurity and didn't want my children to go through any pain. Today, we can all live in separate houses if we want. That, I think, is an achievement."
A health freak and a devout believer, Hiro recalls his hard days. "I left Mumbai in 1985 with a few thousand dollars. I didn't know anyone in London. All I had was will power and the power of prayer. Besides, if you are a good human being, good things happen to you. We are only 15 years into the brand today but I still feel we have a long way to go."
Hiro starts his day without the mobile phone. "His cell phone is switched off till about 11 am and nobody in the house is allowed to talk to him," says Radhika. "That's true," says Hiro adding, "When I reach work, no one is allowed to come into my office till 3 pm. My meetings are all after that. I prefer the quiet in the morning because that's when I sit and check my reports. It gives me enough thinking power. I don't even let my driver drop me to work. I live a simple, Gandhian type of life. I don't sacrifice my family life or health for that extra buck. For me, health is an investment."
Ask him about turnover and Hiro says, "Turnover is vanity, profit is sanity. And you know what, our policy at home and business is not to borrow from the banks. We cut the cloth according to our sizes. The money we use is all organic." Radhika adds, "That's why you see us stress free at the moment. Besides, we have enough real estate to back it up."
The Harjanis' office in London is worth Rs 35 crore. "We all work in the family. I have two bosses right here; the other boss, my daughter Poorna, is sleeping right now," Hiro jokes about his wife and kids. The family joins in the laughter.
