Honesty and hard work have been the two key traits that has helped Praful Dhokai to climb the ladder of success in life.
Mr Dhokai is the general manager of Clyde Equipment (Pacific) Ltd, a company which is a leading industrial equipment distributor in Fiji and neighbouring South Pacific Island countries.
This month also marks his 25 years working for Clyde.
“I came from Baroda, India in 1999 and started as Lautoka branch manager heading 15 staff members back then,” he said.
Mr Dhokai added he had his fair share of struggle, especially in the eight years after graduating from university and not having a secured employment, plus he was married with a child.
“After graduating in electrical engineering from Maharaja Sayajirao University of Baroda, I didn’t secure a good job and all my batch mates had found stable employment by then.
“In 1999, I was presented with an opportunity to come and work at Clyde and the rest is my success story”
He said he moved to an unknown land with his wife and son to start afresh.
“I had never heard of a country called Fiji before, however, Fiji is my home now.
“One should never give up in your life, you have to keep trying and one day you will be successful.”
Mr Dhokai talked about the three eras, he has seen here in Fiji.
“Back in 1999, there was very limited phones and things were not technologically advanced.
In 2005, the second era of mobile phones and personal computers (PC) came, but with very limited internet.
“Now we are in the third era where the world is fully digitised.”
He credits the late Mr Y P Reddy, the founder of Reddy Group, who had been an inspiration figure in his life.
“I have learnt a lot from him. We have worked for around 20 years together and I have learnt a lot of things from him as I was a ordinary salesman when I came from India. Mr Reddy taught me how to do business.
“The main thing is the hard work, you must keep working hard in your job and second is the honesty.”
Mr Dhokai identifies himself as a workaholic, however, takes out some time to watch cricket, especially when the Indian national cricket team plays.
He says his motivation in life is his family and his staff at Clyde.
