By Rasika DeshpandeRajesh Shah, CIO, Hare Krishna Export has spent his childhood in different districts across North Gujarat. Thus he was schooled across villages, towns, district places like Virpur, Matoda, Jinjva, Salal, Pogalu, Pallachar, Poyada, Prantij, Himmatnagar in Sabarkantha district of Gujarat. His father was a Tehsildar and his mother was a homemaker.
“My father practised and lived by traditional family values of honest and dedicated work. My Mother, a simple lady with principles, ensured that we went to school every day though in those areas and times daily school was not much followed in clean proper uniform with all books and study material, and did her best to encourage us to study well. She also encouraged us to be self-reliant and do our household chores cultivating the value of hard work and self-worth,” Shah says.
Shah was fortunate to have good teachers who helped and guided him. He feels his core fundamentals were strong because of great teachers. “I was fortunate to get Mr S K Shah and Mr Kiran Desai as my teachers in my schooling days. Mr S K Shah was a maths Professor in the science stream but he taught me to solve problems in a different way and developed a different level of thinking in me. Thanks to him, even though I am a commerce graduate, I can have a strong logical and business understanding. Now whoever is trained under me, I have taught them the same values. In B Com Mr Kiran Desai used to teach us basic programming. He helped us understand the fundamentals of software and programming.”
Remembering his college days, Shah shares, “In the second year of college, for computers, we had limited syllabus. Most students used to take computers because they had a chance to score well by just remembering those programs. That time, we had a program to write tables and had to fit everything in a single column. Our professor was so confident that students can’t co-relate and students take computers only to score good marks. But I was genuinely interested in computers and programming. So, I challenged my professors that I am not like that. I will write logical answers and make them fit on that same page. He had said if I do that successfully, he will take me to have tea for free. Eventually, I won that challenge.”
A sudden jolt
Of the 3 siblings, Shah was more of an outdoor person while the other two siblings were good with studies. But his life changed drastically when he was 15 years old. His mother passed away after a brief illness. He says this made him serious about his studies and he went on to finish his graduation from North Gujarat University with distinction. After graduation, he came to Mumbai to support his uncle in his Garment business. After working there for a while, he realised that he needed more market knowledge and wanted to be more financially self-reliant so he started working as a Data-Entry Operator at Venus Jewel in 1995. That’s when he was introduced to real-time business applications for the first time.
While he was working there, he found out about software development. “The data-entry job was very repetitive and boring, so I bought books about a computer, coding basics and coded small programs which reduced the need for multiple data entries required in Lotus 123 (early form similar to MS Excel) for data analysis and reporting,” he adds. Mr Rajiv Gandhi, who was his senior, noticed his progress in software development and confidence in having a sound understanding of the jewellery-making business transactions. He encouraged him to join Advanced Diploma in Computer Programming at NMIMS. “The experience of studying at a college in Mumbai was vastly different from one in North Gujarat – culturally, socially and professionally outlook wise. I had a lot to learn and improve to catch on to these areas. During the days I used to work overtime. My family could only see me once a week. I used to come back home very late and used to leave home early morning for my diploma classes.” Shah remembers.
After the Diploma, Shah took up a senior system analyst position with Crest Synergy Pvt Limited in 1997. While leading and managing a team to develop several software applications for various clients, he refined his solution selling and sales skills as well as client management. “Our products were so unique at the time, we had over 150 installations across Mumbai. During that time, Mr Mihir Kariya and Mr Chetan Ganjar guided me. It was a tough job for me because there were a lot of responsibilities for me. Mr Mihir Kariya saw my potential and believed in me. Later, the promoters ventured into a new business in the US and I had to move on after 7 years. This was a time of great change.
Treading his own path
Shah then decided to explore entrepreneurship through “Softcare Solutions” in 2003, capitalising on the contacts made to service various clientele across Manufacturing and Sales & Distribution verticals to customise their ERP systems and take on enhancement projects. “This went well for a year till I got a chance to develop a software product-specific focus on Diamond Trading Business and key features like diamond price calculator. The price calculator was so accurate that the company started on One price practice for a client – JB and Brothers. That’s when I took up an offer of employment with JB and Brothers as an ‘honest – no loss’ exit to fulfil financial demands of a growing family while also drawing support to develop a marketable software product with them.”
Shah wanted to add more exciting features but soon he realized that it would take away their business edge in diamond trading and it was not wise to market this product.
In 2009, Shah joined Kama Schachter Jewelry Pvt. Ltd. as a CIO. He managed the entire landscape of IT. “We were focused on taking the company to a new level in terms of technology. Under the guidance of our CEO Mr Colin Shah, we chose SAP, rather than go for industry-specific ERP, to meet the growing needs of a dynamic business. He had a vision to zero data entry. He motivated us and finally, we were able to come out with a Zero-Entry Screen and because of that, productivity increased multi-fold. We added a lot of business algorithms and validations. Because of those algorithms, we achieved the zero-error target, reduced high-value inventory and customer experience also increased.”
Recently, in June 2021, Shah joined Hari Krishna Export as CIO of the largest diamond exporters and jewellery manufacturing company. Talking about his experience, he says, “This is a big group and a new work environment. I took up this opportunity and joined with the first task to implement SAP along with several other initiatives.”
Shah says, in the next 15 years, he can see himself enjoying the retired life. He wants to spend some quality time with his family and give them love and care and give back to society and people who have supported him. He says, “I want to give my family and society the love and care they deserve. I look forward to a simple life appreciating the miracles of technology that bring ease to life and living.”
