In a high-risk business like diamonds, what is the biggest fear? Was there ever a time when you felt that doing business was becoming difficult, that you would have to shut it down? What is the biggest truth of the diamond industry? Does poverty make a person stronger or does it break them? Namaste, I am Manoj Tabardewala and you are watching on Dynamite News the country's most talked about podcast, The Candid Talk. They say dreams are not those we see while sleeping. Dreams are those that don't let us sleep. A small village in Gujarat, an ordinary family, limited resources but boundless courage. This courage built an empire that is not just of diamonds but of trust and relationships. Today with us is Govind bhai Dholakia, who has not limited business to profit but has set a new example by considering his employees as family. Govind bhai, a very warm welcome to The Candid Talk.
From a small farmer family, to building India's most prestigious and largest diamond cutting and polishing company, what kinds of challenges did you face?
By God's grace, we kept moving. The caravan kept growing. Because we were from a small village, Dudhala, in the Dhuriya region, a village of 700 population, with one to four schools. I studied only up to seventh, but I didn't even give the seventh exam. I just have a certificate of sixth. But after three years, I went to study in the taluka of Lathi, and without giving the seventh exam, I came to Surat with my elder brother for diamond cutting and polishing. From West Gujarat, Saurashtra, I moved to Surat. When I came to Surat, there were 200 workers in diamond cutting and polishing, and I was one of them. And today there are 10 lakh. I have seen the growth of this whole diamond business. When I came, I worked in a factory for six years, 14 hours a day. The factories started at 6 am and closed at 8 pm. Even after working 14 hours, there was so much happiness. Why? Because in the village I used to get daily wages, and here in diamond cutting, I got ₹. So if I got four times the money, there was happiness. That is why Pujya Dongre ji Maharaj says that happiness and sorrow are a game of the mind. Happiness and sorrow are not in objects.
When you started Shree Ramkrishna Exports, what did you have more of? Money or trust? And first, how did you come up with the name Shree Ramkrishna Exports?
I said that Pujya Dongre ji Maharaj was a Bhagavata Kathakar and I was influenced by him. The first time his Bhagavata Katha was in Surat, we three friends went to the city to roam on a Sunday. His voice fell on my ears and I went into a trance. I realize now that it was a trance. I sat in the katha. At night, I went to my boss's house and said I wouldn't come to work for seven days. He said that if I didn't come, his eight workers would sit idle, so I would have to do 20 diamond bruting every day. I found a way: after the katha ended, I would come at 6 or 6:30 pm and work until 12 or 1 am, making 20 diamonds. And what did I get from the katha? He explained many things, but one thing he said: if you want respect, money, fame, this is the law of creation. Whatever you give, you will get back many times. He gave an example: if you go to the Himalayas, thousands of hills, and someone shouts, 'God will bless you,' the echo will come back ten or twenty times. If someone shouts, 'May you be destroyed,' the echo will come back ten or twenty times. He explained it practically. I was a 17 or 18 year old boy, and I felt that I wanted a lot of respect, so I started giving respect to everyone. In the factory, there were 40 youngsters working; they all called me 'Govinda,' I called them 'Bhagwan bhai' or 'Bhago.' They addressed me informally. I started addressing everyone with 'aap' (formal). They thought Govinda had lost his mind and started making fun of me. After two months, if anyone made fun of me, three people would come and say, 'Don't take Govind bhai's name.' That Govinda had become Govind bhai for free. I have kept this formula in my life till today: I have never called anyone 'tu' (informal). I always use 'aap'.
Then you asked about the name: how did you name it Ramkrishna? Dongre ji Maharaj used to say that if you want to do any work, keep God with you. Keep God's share. When we started the company, I liked both gods, Ram and Krishna. Who to leave? I kept both, and we also wanted Lakshmi. So I named it Shri Ram Krishna. That is how our company's name started, and we kept God's share. So it is God's company; God runs it.
Govind bhai, your company is known for employee welfare and ethical practices. How do you manage all this? How do you manage so much?
There is great power in truth. Pujya Dongre ji Maharaj had a sentence that I have followed all my life: wealth and children come according to destiny. One needs to make efforts for them, not commit sins. For 60 years, in the whole diamond market, I have an open challenge: if I have ever told a lie for money or business, I will leave the business. That is the power of truth. Everyone wants the truth. Initially, we think that speaking truth gives less profit, that we incur loss. But ultimately, everyone wants the truth. People come to the truth. So when they saw our truth, all our suppliers and buyers started coming to us, and the company grew.
Govind bhai, in which year did you start this company? How many employees were there then, and how many are there today?
When I came to Surat in 1964, I worked as a worker for six years. In 1970, we three friends worked together. The three of us pooled ₹ and started a small factory. We were three, with two workers. Today, we have 9,000 workers, and our exports are ₹12,000 crore, and we export to more than 100 countries.
Wow, that's great. Was there ever a time when you felt that doing business was becoming difficult, that you would have to shut it down and do something else? How did you handle such a situation?
Ups and downs come in life, in business, and in the whole society. That is the law of creation. So ups and downs will keep coming. In 2008, the world recession came, and the entire market went down. The diamond market dropped 30% in one month. At that time, everyone broke their infrastructure because you can't run a business if you buy at 100 and sell at 70. But at that time, God gave us such wisdom. Because it was God's company, and in the Gita, God says, 'I give wisdom.' So God gave us the wisdom that we always say that everyone in the company is a family member. We never call our workers 'workers'; we call them staff members and family members. I said, 'We have made them family members. If I fire them, it's like firing my own son.' So I gathered all my partners, who were family, and said, 'No one will leave this building. If we have to leave, we will all leave together, but we will not fire a single worker.' We kept them for six months. In six months, there was a slight movement in the market. In the whole world, only three diamond companies did not lay off any workers; we were one of them. The benefit was huge. In 2008, the recession came. In 2007, our company was ranked 25th in India. After the recession, when the market recovered, raw material became 50% cheaper, so we bought at 50 and sold at 70, making great profit. Everyone else's infrastructure was broken, but ours was still standing. The workers also had work to do; earlier they were sitting idle, now they got half work, and they worked double. Profit quadrupled, and by 2009, the company was in the top five. This was God's plan, God's grace.
I want to understand one thing. In a high-risk business like diamonds, what is the biggest fear? Losing money or losing trust?
Whatever happens in any business happens in diamonds too. Betrayal happens. But by God's grace, it has been less. The people we met have been good, because our thinking is good, our intention is good. So mostly we meet good people. Because who do we meet? People like us. Those who drink meet drinkers. Those who go to temples meet temple-goers. So we meet people like us. The question of betrayal hasn't come much; it has come very little. And when it did, I considered it our mistake: that we made a mistake in keeping them. So I didn't argue much and let them go. There is also robbery, but here in India, security is very good, especially in Gujarat. So we haven't faced trouble from robbery or theft. This is God's grace.
Govind bhai, in your opinion, what is the most dangerous thing in any business?
The most dangerous thing is cheating. If someone thinks, 'Let me tell a small lie, I'll get a profit,' then from that point, his decline begins. So one should never take shortcuts or do anything wrong for profit. People say, 'We have to sit with everyone and drink.' That is not necessary. In our 60-year journey, building such a big company, we have never given a drink to anyone, never taken one, never had a drinking party. Yet our business has grown. It is not necessary to party for business to grow. Our nature should be good.
What is the biggest truth of the diamond industry that common people don't know?
In the diamond business, the most trustworthy people are those who don't know. This is a story from 1998. The Surat commissioner had gone to America; I was also in America at that time. We were sitting at my home talking. Here I am, a village man, and there I am sitting with an IPS officer in America. He said, 'You don't know what you have. I was commissioner in Surat for three years, and there is a business of two lakh crore in Surat. In three years, not a single FIR came from a diamond trader that someone didn't pay or take money. The suppliers and buyers you have are very rare in the world. You are fortunate to have good people.' For example, someone calls and says, 'I have goods worth 5 million in Belgium.' In two minutes, the deal is done: 'Okay, keep three.' And the goods are sent correctly, customs is smooth, and the goods arrive. We never said, 'You supplied inferior goods, so we will pay less.' Nothing like that happened. That was 25 years ago. Today, it is starting to happen in some places. Thank you.
Overall, Govind bhai, you want to say that in the diamond business, the most important link is that of trust, of faith.
Yes, trust. Absolutely. If we sell goods to anyone, we should take a reference from the company. We take references from two people. If someone gives a false reference, he too will be out of the market. Our market rule is that if he doesn't know, he will say, 'I don't know who he is.' But if he gives a reference, it must be correct. Even for us, if someone asks, we have to tell the truth. If we give a wrong reference even once, we too will be out. So it's a very good thing that references are very good, and everyone is good people.
India is now becoming a big hub for Lab Grown Diamonds (LGD), which are also cheaper. In that context, a big question is: how does a customer differentiate between real and LGD diamonds?
Real diamonds and lab-grown diamonds cannot be distinguished by hand. But in a lab, with a machine, it becomes known. If you put them under a machine, you can tell which is lab-grown and which is real. What is the difference? Real diamonds are mined from the earth; there are more than 20 mines in the world, in Africa, Russia, Canada, Australia (now closed), and India too, but it's costly to extract. Diamonds are more than 65 million years old. The current mines have diamonds aged between 60 million and 100 million years. They are formed in the earth's mantle, 200 to 500 kilometers deep in lava. When the earth undergoes upheaval, they come out. Those are called mines. These mines can be a few kilometers below the earth, on the surface, in rivers, in the sea, or in hills. The real diamond is 60 million years old. So I consider the real diamond as God, because if we hadn't got this diamond, we would still be working in the fields. So for me, this diamond is God's grace; it made our life. We reached Delhi, sitting in front of you – all this is due to God's grace through diamonds. The natural diamond, 60 million years old, that emotion is very important. On the other hand, the lab-grown diamond business will also grow. Why? Because their price is much lower. Lab-grown diamonds are available at one-tenth the price of real diamonds. So many more people will use them. Earlier, only half a percent of the world used diamonds; with lab-grown, 20-30% may use them. So their business could become 100-200 times larger. Lab-grown diamonds will have their own market, and real diamonds will have theirs. Because if my daughter is getting married, I would choose a real diamond. There are many people like me around the world, so the real diamond business will continue.
If we talk about diamond versus gold, it often comes up that diamonds are expensive, but when it comes to investing, people prefer gold. Why is that?
Gold is a global currency. You can go anywhere – Africa, Europe, America, East – your gold can be sold and cashed anywhere. That is not the case with diamonds. Only a diamond expert can buy it; you have to go to them. It is expensive. But diamond jewelry is a status symbol, while gold jewelry is general. That is the difference.
Most diamond mines are outside India. Yet, in the diamond trade, Indians, especially people from Gujarat like you, are very successful. What do you see as the reason behind this?
The reason is that diamond cutting and polishing is an art, and art is innate; it comes from the fingers, not from learning. This art is in India. For example, in gold jewelry, the craftsmen are mostly from Bengal – it's in their fingers. Similarly, diamond cutting is not easy. It is a white-collar job done in air conditioning, but the work is micro, micro, micro. You have to work the whole day with full concentration. In our factory, 9,000 people work. Among them, only about 100 are allowed to use mobile phones. The rest have to leave their phones outside. Because they have to keep their minds on the work. At that time, in Gujarat, I think more than 80% were sons of farmers, from Gujarat, Maharashtra, Rajasthan, UP, or elsewhere. It is hard work, so it suits them.
Govind bhai, is it true that earlier, 10-20 years ago, big diamond businessmen used to invest a lot in films?
No, there was one Bharat bhai Shah who did that. He did it big. He made two, five, ten films. I was small then; I used to watch his films. But only Bharat bhai Shah came; no other diamond businessman did that.
Diamond businessmen are considered to be true to their word and trustworthy. You also mentioned that. Is this perception really correct?
Absolutely correct. Because when we restructured the company in 1995, we explained to our nephews that we would never sell to any buyer even 1% above the market price. If we sell at a higher price, he will not come back. Our business is generation to generation; it's not a one-time deal. Our work of trust is to continue it generation after generation. I gave an order: even if you sold at 1 or 2% cheaper, it's forgivable, but if you sold even 1% higher, it's not forgivable. Why? Because if you sell cheaper, he will come again. But if you sell even 1% higher, he won't. That was our strategy. With this thinking, the company is number one today.
What is the Angadia system? Please explain. It works without any paper records in the diamond trade.
The Angadia system is like a courier service, but for expensive items. It is called Angadia. For example, we give goods in Surat at 11 pm, and by 8 am we can deliver them to our office in Mumbai. Their service is very fast. That is why it is called Angadia.
Nowadays is the era of startups and funding. In this time, can an ordinary person build a business without big investment and background?
Absolutely. Today, it is easier than 50 years ago, easier than 25 years ago, easier than 10 years ago. Today it is very easy. Any young person who wants to work, wants to start a startup, can do it very easily. But what to keep in mind? Whatever work you do, you should have knowledge of it. Practical knowledge. If a friend is doing it, and I think I can do it too, it may be difficult because it may not work. But if you take six months, one year, two years to gain practical knowledge, and then start with humility, honesty, and truthfulness, then growth will happen. There is a Gujarati couplet: 'Dharma increases, wealth increases, wealth increases then mind increases, mind increases then respect increases, and it keeps growing.' When you grow with dharma – dharma does not mean sectarian religion; dharma means humanity. 'Dharma' means to become human.
