Niranjan and Kamal Hiranandani have been married 35 years, which is sufficient for them to have realised that they are soulmates. Speaking about Kamal, Niranjan says, “She’s never ever let me down in the last three-and-a-half decades. She’s been a constant support.”
Kamal, who’s a director in Hiranandani Constructions, was a simple housewife who in her own admission ‘didn’t even know how to sign company cheques’ but has functioned as her husband’s business partner, starting from scratch during the last 20 years. During the first 15 years of their marriage she looked after the children, Preeti and Darshan, single-handedly because her husband was busy setting up his construction business. The last year has been good to them with son Darshan getting married.
Like everyone else, even they have had setbacks in their business. However, Niranjan says, “The pluses far outweigh the minuses.” He helps in managing 17 colleges, eight schools and two hospitals as part of his extracurricular activities.
Niranjan still recounts with pleasure a chance encounter he had at a dhaba on the Delhi-Agra highway with a resident of Hiranandani Complex. “His pride in telling me that he was a Hiranandani resident was so evident, even though he didn’t know who I was. It was worth more than any award I had got.”
As they gear up to introduce a Rs10,000-crore plus power project to the country over the next four years, they’re relying on each other — and on principles of dedicated work and the support of their employees. “These are the things that matter; money is only a medium,” says Niranjan.
They are implicit believers in karma. Niranjan adds, “After a point, money becomes meaningless and it’s all about happiness. If you do good to others then it returns to you at some stage. If I’ve totted up 10 credits on my karma list then I’ve been showered with a 1,000 blessings in return. The important thing is not to let negative emotions get you down, for they can destroy a person.”
