This is Maya as she speaks…
Having lived in Salem, Tamil Nadu and having grown up in the mountains of the Shevaroy Hills in her formative years, she turned into a Bibliophile in a small town devoid of bookshops. Now, Maya has lived in Mumbai for more than three decades. Her first foray into the professional world was that of working in a bookstore at Contemporary Arts – South Mumbai.
In January of 1998, she turned entrepreneur as she launched Maya’s Dial-A-Book Service, providing free home delivery for book lovers across the city! The big bookstore chains had yet to follow suit, giving Maya and her service a 7-year long run. Midday List lauded it as an impressive one-woman show that not only catered to orders but offered recommendations for free. Becoming an Amazon.com vendor (when there were none), Maya procured orders from out of the country, making Dial-A-Book, the only service to do so. Max Touch (the then premium network provider) was happy to make her one of their dial-in service associates and Bombay Times (Nov 1999) called her ‘a small but seriously smart service’.
Come 2004, Maya was ready once again to spearhead the position of Content Head for her niche family magazine called ‘The Sindhian’. She handled Marketing, Sales, and Public Relations for it, while writing and profiling people from all over the world as well. New age topics created MayaSpeak, a widely read column. So books, food, product reviews, travel, spas and everything lifestyle have become her forte and are a big part of her blogging space.
A NOTE ON THE AUTHOR
Maya Bathija, has been a journalist for close to two decades, contributing to magazines like The Sindhian, Mercedes-Benz India, Global Gujarati, WIC Lifestyle, FWD Life, Business Traveller and eShe. Personality profiles have always been her forte and she ably headed her family magazine – The Sindhian for over a decade.
A person who would rather meet and then research, instead of just research and write about subjects, she has travelled the world meeting different people in high places.
While writing her first book Paiso, she gained an astute understanding of her subjects, having researched their various backgrounds, after having actually met with their families, their bankers, friends and contemporaries, not forgetting congressmen and mayors.
After writing her first business book, she continues to be a journalist writing about incredible women in her favourite magazine eShe.
eshe articles by Maya Lalchandani
Today, she travels extensively as a travel consultant, covering eco-luxury, safari and boutique properties. She continues to be a journalist. Being an author, she would like to delve more into autobiographies and memoirs and fiction is not far away.
PAISO – HOW SINDHIS DO BUSINESS
Author Maya Bathija, former head of content of the Sindhian has delved into the worlds of five prominent Sindhi families to show us how Sindhis do business. Taking us across the globe from Hong Kong to the US to India, Maya has dug deep to offer interesting insights into the business philosophies of these families well-known in the community. Through her stories Maya has portrayed their lives in an engaging way, giving readers a first-hand look at the business practices, culture, characteristics & passions that have contributed to their success.
Five Sindhi Families : Five Business Empires : A Wealth of Expertise
Guided by their sharp business acumen & adaptability, Sindhis have braved Partition, fled from one nation to another and weathered ups & downs in the economy to set up some of the biggest companies in the world. In Paiso, Maya Bathija, brings to you the extraordinary stories of five Sindhi families & the empire they have built over the years: Gary & David Harilela of the Hong Kong-based Harilela Group, renowned for their hotels; Ramola Motwani, chairwoman & CEO of the real estate investment & development company Merrimac Ventures; Harish Fabiani, India’s first angel investor & chairman of Americorp Ventures and India Land; Dilip Kumar Lakhi, head of Lakhi Group, one of the biggest diamond suppliers in the country & Jitu Virwani, real estate kingpin & CMD of Embassy Group.
Through the journeys of these incredibly successful companies, built painstakingly by many generations, this book takes a close look at the Sindhi way of doing business. This book attempts to trace the complex history of Sindhi businessmen & show how five chosen businesses & the associated families benefited from the unique qualities of ‘being Sindhi’.
Dare To Make A Change is the biography of Dr Sushil Shah, the founder and chairman of Metropolis Healthcare Limited. His vision and zeal to be the best and serve relentlessly in the healthcare industry, led him to undertake a mammoth challenge. He has overcome several obstacles to become a market leader in the pathology sector. With his younger daughter, MD and CEO Ameera Shah currently ensconced at the helm, Metropolis has reached greater heights.
Author Maya Bathija takes us on Dr Shah’s journey, giving us a sneak peek into his life and the vision and foresight that made Metropolis possible.
Dare To Make A Change offers an in-depth account of the man behind Metropolis, and his struggle to reach the top while maintaining honesty and integrity.
