Shobha Bondre‟s Dhandha is the story of a few such Gujaratis: Jaydev Patel—the New York Life Insurance agent credited with having sold policies worth $2.5 billion so far; Bhimjibhai Patel—one of the country‟s biggest diamond merchants and co-founder of the ambitious „Diamond Nagar‟ in Surat; Dalpatbhai Patel—the motelier who went on to become the mayor of Mansfield County; Mohanbhai Patel—a former Sheriff of Mumbai and the leading manufacturer of aluminium collapsible tubes; and Hersha and Hasu Shah—owners of over a hundred hotels in the US.

1. 2013
BY-
VIDHI CHAUHAN–JL13PGDM123
TULIKA CHOPRA-JL13PGDM120
VASVEE GUPTA-JL13PGDM122
SONIA JASWANI-JL13PGDM117
SOUMEN AICH-JL13PGDM118
TASHEEN SHEIKH-JL13PGDM119
VARSHA DEBNATH-JL13PGDM121
JAIPURIA INSTITUTE OF
MANAGEMENT LUCKNOW
Book Review: Dhandha-How Guajarati’s Do Business

2. TABLE OF CONTENTS
Introduction of the Author: ......................................................................................2
Summary:...................................................................................................................3
Review:........................................................................................................................4
Diamonds Are Forever: ...............................................................................................4
Motelier Becomes Mayor: ...........................................................................................5
The Circle of Life: .......................................................................................................6
Life of a Salesman: ......................................................................................................7
Not only potels:............................................................................................................8
Conclusion:..................................................................................................................9

3. INTRODUCTION OF THE AUTHOR:
Shobha Bondre is a celebrated and much published Marathi writer. She has been writing for
the last 25 years and has published 13 books, many of them bestsellers that have gone into
over 25 editions. The non-Marathi reading world is now keen to read her works and her
books are being translated into English, Hindi, and Gujarati. She has written articles, short
stories, and columns for prestigious publications like the Maharashtra Times, Loksatta,
Lokprabha, Maher, Kirloskar, etc. She has also written dialogues for many popular Marathi
TV serials like Abhalmaya, Manasi, Oon Paaus, and Ardhangini. In the last few years,
personality profiles of people from various walks of life have become Shobhas forte. For this,
she interacts closely with her subjects, understanding them in their social, familial, emotional,
and economic settings. She has won many literary awards for her work, including the
Maharashtra State Award for Best Novel in 1997, for Saata Samudrapar.

4. SUMMARY:
Dhandha, meaning business, is a term often used in common trade
parlance in India. But there is no other community that fully embodies
what the term stands for than the Gujaratis.
Shobha Bondre‟s Dhandha is the story of a few such Gujaratis: Jaydev
Patel—the New York Life Insurance agent credited with having sold
policies worth $2.5 billion so far; Bhimjibhai Patel—one of the
country‟s biggest diamond merchants and co-founder of the ambitious
„Diamond Nagar‟ in Surat; Dalpatbhai Patel—the motelier who went
on to become the mayor of Mansfield County; Mohanbhai Patel—a
former Sheriff of Mumbai and the leading manufacturer of aluminium
collapsible tubes; and Hersha and Hasu Shah—owners of over a
hundred hotels in the US.
Travelling across continents—from Mumbai to the United States—in
search of their story and the common values that bond them, Dhandha
showcases the powerful ambition, incredible capacity for hard work,
and the inherent business sense of the Gujaratis.
These are definitely not fairy tales. The essence of the book is to
highlight the differentiating factor, the thing that distinguishes
Guajarati‟s from the rest of the world when it comes to business and
the book beautifully portrays it. The stories are not just about how their
businesses grew, but also about the whole family of the businessman
and how they helped, the unforeseen events, the troubles and obstacles
they faced, the failures, but the best thing in all these stories was the
amazing attitude for success and persistence these people showed.

5. REVIEW:
DIAMONDS ARE FOREVER:
This is the story of Bhimjibhai Patel, a diamond merchant who started
from scratch. Literally. He didn‟t know languages apart from Gujarati,
but he proved that language is no barrier. Bhimjibhai was confident. „I
know diamonds and that is the most important language in the
business. „It‟s only the hard work, intense dedication, practical
approach, readiness to learn and the inborn enthusiasm to see
themselves as successful businessmen that matters. Bhimjibhai has
always wanted to learn and adopt, his initial days he spent learning the
art of cutting Diamonds and along with that hard work to sustain in the
world, he when started the journey got the support of his Wife. It‟s not
just Bhimjibhai want to pursue his dream he helped his brother‟s to
get a proper sustainable life and move ahead and Bhimjibhai got the
immense support from his family this leads to the Base of the
Bhimjibhai Patel which is now known as one of the country's
biggest diamond merchants, It shows the whole understanding of their
business sense is how they are still so humble and modest, how
Bhimjibhai have been working hard all the time, leaving little time for
family, but still he always helped others in many different ways and
shared ideas and information.

6. MOTELIER BECOMES MAYOR:
This is a story about a Gujarati Dalpatbhai Patel, who studied in US
and took a leap into what Guajarati‟s do the best. He gradually became
the first indian Motelier in the region.
Like many others Dalpatbhai Patel came to US with a better life style
and a reputed job.
He went through lots of up‟s and downs emotionally and mentally, but
time healed up every difficulties. Dalphatbhai had a friend cum
motivator named Mangan Bhai.
He being a perfect Gujarati businessman, providing a strong backend
to Dalphatbhai. Their Partnership proved to be a great success. They
were quite practical and calculative about things. They were
masterminds in making the financial decisions. Neeta Patel, wife of
Dalpatbhai Patel proved her capabilities while contributing to manage
the motel. She had depicted Inspirational management Skills; this
reflects that Gujarati women are no less than what a man can be.
It is learnt that Gujarati‟s are hardworking and risk takers. This story
talks about how any opportunity can be turned into business. The only
precondition is being focussed and cautions to capture those
opportunities in time. This story also makes us understand how a single
person can be a businessman as well as a social worker, this is a
quality, a real entrepreneur possesses, i.e. being a Motelier and a
Mayor at the same time.

7. THE CIRCLE OF LIFE:
Mohanbhai Patel (leading producer of collapsible aluminium tubes in
the world) in his story, The Circle of Life talks about how once while
experimenting with a new machine tool for producing ophthalmic
nozzle tubes (used for packing eye ointment) with aluminium (usually
tin is used all over the world. This was the first time anyone tried using
aluminium), the machine tool broke down and he tried not three, four
or five times, but 30 times. It shows, if an idea does not work one
would abandon the idea but Mohanbhai does not give up easily. The
story Mentions, Mohanbhai working for Tata‟s at Mumbai and
establishing his business for weeks not visiting home/family. Taking
rest for only 3 hours this shows dedication of Gujarati‟s for the
business and the hard working quality with immense amount of
patience. The determination to establish be the best in the world is
Inspiring, Along with the support of the family. The entire family
works as a team and their real risk taking ability which makes them
dream high stand apart in the world.

8. LIFE OF A SALESMAN:
„PATIENCE, THE NAME IS JAYDEV PATEL‟
This story describes in detail how Jaydev Patel, a Gujarati businessman
came from India to US and his journey towards success, from the
initial struggle to the recognition he has achieved today- The New york
life Insurance agent credited with having sold policies worth $2.5
billion. Jaydev Patel, who started his career as teacher, then a chemist
and finally ended up with that of an Insurance agent, mentions how he
took up the opportunity offered by New York life that made all the
difference.
He is well known as the one who take care of all the worries. Jaydev
talent to sell Insurance policies is unbelievable and worthy of praise,
His incredible marketing skills are evident when we find that he had
sold a policy even to the attendant who fills gas in his car at service
station. But it is not that he was successful immediately, at the
beginning he had faced many hardships. Sometimes he had to pursue
the client for months and years, so as to sell a policy. But his
determination and patience level didn‟t let him down.
Purnima Patel, wife of Jaydev Patel had played the role of constant
motivator and epitome of care. She didn‟t lost her patience even when
Jaydev lost his job. Her role in this Story, clearly defines the inborn
management skills a girl carries.
Jaydev Patel‟s achievement in the field of Insurance is laudable, but his
portrait would not be complete if one doesn‟t mention the other side of
him, as a social worker who had emotions attached to his school, his
family values and culture brought him to a point, where he went out of
the box to build three new schools in his town back in India.

9. NOT ONLY POTELS:
SUCCESSFUL SUCCESSION: A TRADITION OF SUCCESS.
This story revolves around a couple Hashu and Hersha Shah from
Harrisburg. Every person has a dream to earn a reputable position in
the society. Dream continue to get bigger and bigger, most
importantly, when we talk about living on foreign lands.
Hersha and Hasu Shah are the living example of great American
dream, like thousands of others this couple came to America from
India, with aspirations and hope in there heart. Both of them worked
tirelessly to improve their life. They didn‟t have any money to begin
with, what they had was sharp intellect, tremendous will power and
incredible capacity to hard work. They started with a small motel
business; today they are the owners of over 100 Hotels with around
11,000 rooms in total. They have done a lot for the society and
country. As of today they employ 650 people they also contribute to
social service organizations. In the midst of this hectic schedule, they
didn‟t fail to instil sound values in their children Jay & Neil, who are
both highly qualified and religiously contribute to their father‟s
business. “AS YOU SOW SO SHALL YOU REAP”.
The Role of Hersha Shah, has been completely remarkable, In spite of
having led a very pampered childhood, she had worked so hard and
had not been scared to face any challenge.
Behind every Success story lays a dark face, the story of Hersha and
Hasu Shah is no different. Recession, Robberies, floods, disasters all
came there way. But a real businessman is one who overcomes all the
difficulties and hard times and converts into never ending success. And
this can be done only if entire family contributes to it.
The next generation of shah‟s i.e. Jay & Neil, further took the group to
new heights and brought about a series of innovative changes.

10. CONCLUSION:
Dhandha is a very simple and inspiring book for the upcoming
entrepreneurs. Reading the book is quite intriguing. Every person has
some insights on how they tackled the ordeal of life, meanwhile rooted
to their values.
We would specifically like to mention about the cover page of the
book i.e. a suitcase, a symbol that glorifies business, DHANDHA.
And, after reading the stories, it is truly felt that Guajarati‟s do have an
innate sense of business.
The book unfolds to show us innumerable facets of human behaviour
and make us learn invaluable lessons of humanity. One thing that is
found common in all the five stories is that each of these people
believe in a single funda of business, and that is „A businessman
should always think about growing business bigger and better‟ which
holds completely true. In each of the chapters of Dhandha we will gain
many things about how hard work, patience and perseverance always
pay off. None of the genuine efforts will go waste if we have put in our
heart and soul in trying to achieve what we really wanted.
A common thread running through each of the stories is the incredible
amount of hard work, perseverance and patience each of the five
people had to build their existing business empires. Despite being from
fairly conservative backgrounds, some of these profiled individuals
have made their mark in alien lands through consistent labour, often
doing double shifts to raise enough capital and taken risks no matter
what the odds.
The contribution of their spouses cannot be underestimated and the
author must be congratulated on documenting their side of the story as
well. The ladies' version of the events in this learning curve does add a
more humane dimension to their success stories. What's also
remarkable is that the profiled gentlemen have retained their humility,
and were blessed to be surrounded with people who supported and
guided them on their path. Each of the business families written about
in this book also gave back a lot to their rural roots in Gujarat, and
their generosity and ability to remain rooted to their origins is
commendable, especially in the face of powerful ambition.
Some of the common personality traits that are being noticed in the
personalities mentioned in the book are as follows:

11. High risk takers: high risk-taking managers make more rapid
decisions and uses less information.
Examples from the book:
In case of Bhimjibhai Patel, he was into his father‟s farming business,
he took the risk of moving to Surat and invested a considerable amount
to learn about diamond cutting and polishing. During his entire training
period of four months, he was not even paid a single penny, which
matters a lot for a farmer who earns on a daily basis.
Initiators: These are the people who identify opportunities, show
initiative, take action and persevere until meaningful changes occur.
Guajarati‟s are known as „entrepreneurs by birth‟. So, they are most
often the initiators, who bring about the idea of latest business traits
and make innovations from time to time.
Example:
In the story of life of salesman, it was jaydev patel who took the
initiative of changing his profession from a chemist to an insurance
agent, which ultimately gained him a huge and never ending success. It
was he who introduced three schools in his school in a span of two
years, despite of the huge capital funding.
Core values: These are the values which one gains from the parents
and institutions. These types of values are deeply inherited within the
individual and are not easily changed.
Guajarati‟s have got rich core cultural values. They give strong
preference to the parental upbringing and culture to which they are
being associated.
MYERS-BRIGGS TYPE INDICATOR
It is the most widely used personality assessment instrument in the
world. Through this model, we can judge the personality trait of an
individual.
As per the myers-briggs type indicator model, all the five persons
mentioned in the book depict the similar type of personality being
entrepreneurs and pursuers of their dreams.
Firstly, they have EXTROVERT personality. it can be seen in case of
bhimjibhai patel, who goes from a small town to a big city like Surat to
learn about the diamond cutting, without any glitch or hesitation.

12. Same characteristic trend we came across in dalpatbhai patel. Despite
of being on a foreign land, he established the motel business. Similarly
Neeta Patel worked out of her comfort zone to communicate with
Americans in the motel.
Second is INTUTIVE- Guajarati‟s looking everything with a bigger
perspective. They have a wider perception of making use of
opportunities at the right point of time.
If we see the example of dalpatbahi patel and maganbhai, they
purchased the motel on the highway, which was running into losses.
They took an intuitive decision to buy it and transform it into a
successful business.
THINKING: Guajarati‟s use reason and logic to handle the problems.
Being successful businessmen, the five stories show their abilities to
work worth logic and reason in different circumstances.
Like in the circle of life, mohanbhai patel came across situation where
Mr Barnett, a competitor, threatened him to quit/shutdown his
business. Inspite of lack of resources, he (mohanbhai) ran his business
and decided to manufacture his own caps.
PERCEIVING: These people are flexible and spontaneous.
Guajarati‟s are seen to be quite flexible when it comes to doing
business.
Like in the story of hersu shah, he originally bought a single portel
which became a success in a short span of time. He then bought few
more later on. But as soon as he got the opportunity to buy a restaurant,
he sold out the earlier portels, so as to arrange for the required capital.
Hence it can be said that they do not stick on single perspective of
business. Their soul aim is to maximise the business in spite of all the
odds.
Hence, the indicator that comes out to be is ENTP. This type is a
conceptualizer, innovative, individualistic, versatile and attracted to
entrepreneurial ideas. People with such personality are ready to accept
one exciting challenges after another. This is rather the personality
indicator that best indicates the typical Guajarati personalities.
With this, we wind up with a conclusion that, anyone who wants to be
in the list of upcoming entrepreneurs must read this book and capture
the ideas and strategies which Guajarati adopt to pursue their work and
chase the dreams.