He bought a Jaguar Mark III for Rs. 800 when he was just 18 years old!

          Yes, you read right. Your fellow 

Rotarian, Suresh Jagtiani, acquired   his first car, a beautiful Jaguar Mark III, for a paltry sum of Rs. 800 when he was just 18 years old.

         Of course, it would be more correct to say that it was given to him at a throwaway price by a member of the city’s Consular Corps in return for some outstanding sound systems that he had assembled for him and his Consulate office.

        But that does not detract from the fact that Suresh had a smashing Jaguar outside his door when he was still some time away from qualifying to acquire a driving licence.

      Suresh, as a young lad, assembled amplifiers as a hobby. There was nothing unusual in what he was doing, but for the fact that the sound of music that his machines reproduced was an unbelievable treat for the ears. His prowess soon spread far and wide and his list of clients included several big names, corporates, consular offices and so on.

        Although he candidly admits that his hobby was also a means to make ends meet, what with a rather indigent background, he looks back on his salad days, especially as a student of St. Xavier’s College (between 1958 and 1964), with fond memories.

       But if those were the days of abandon, years and decades of achievement were awaiting him just round the corner.

       Never in his dreams did any one in his circle imagine that the boy who bought and sold slide rules to support himself through high school, would one day make an  epochal

Handsome is as handsome does. Savitar Jagtiani has just relocated to Dubai from the USA

The apple of  her father’s eye, suresh’s daughter Aditi Adajania is

a professional employed in Bombay

move from assembling amplifiers into the heavy-duty shipbuilding industry. But that’s what he did.

        It all started with a dare – to fabricate a windlass and other parts of a warship for Mazagon Docks Ltd. It was such a tough assignment for a youth his age that any other entrepreneur would have thrown in his overalls and hurled his winches into the sea.

         But not Suresh. He worked patiently with the help of friends and well-wishers, some of whom later became his business partners, and got the approval of the Lloyd’s Register of Shipping for the design of the first windlass that he fabricated and offered to Mazagon Docks as “import substitution” (which was the mantra of those days).

        Design approval (it took a year to receive it) was only the first phase of the new voyage that he had embarked on. Once the part was fabricated, it again required the approval of Lloyd’s. And another year went by.

     To cut a long windlass short, it took him some years to gain entry into the hallowed portals of Mazagon Docks. But once he had placed his foot in the door, there was no stopping him. One order led to another, and another, and another.

        Till the dawn of the day when it became incumbent to acquire a shipyard and to build ships.

      Dame Luck seemed to have come to dwell outside his abode, for he and his partners were able to snap up a loss-making shipyard (just what they   were looking for) in Ratnagiri and           promptly bought out the owner.

        And so Suresh Jagtiani became the Founder Director of M/s Bharati

Shipyard Ltd., a venerated, listed company.

      Over a quarter century of hard work and dedication bore fruit but also extracted a price in the shape of health issues. In the year 2000 he resigned his position in the company, sold his shares and seriously assisted his wife as she tended to his health.

       That done, a few years later he started pursuing yet another dream – that of systems analysis, software codes and other work related to computers and information technology.

         In 1983, he had written the world’s first financial accounting system. He had invented the first global dual entry financial accounting system for online balance sheets and profit and loss statements and called it “No Frills”.

       Putting all his experience to good use now, he set up another firm, Indo-European Software Solutions. But he was restless and thirsting for more.

And Providence once again smiled on him. A massive assignment landed on his desk from the USA and he became the CEO of Zebra Automated Project Management Services in 2003.

       Suresh along with his co-inventor have received a (pending) US patent for project management software that automates cost, time and scope. This is code named Zebra and is deployed at RDG USA where it enables a staff of 150 personnel to manage 400 projects simultaneously on time and on budget. Zebra is ideal for consultants, auditors, architects and software houses. His fellow Rotarian

A loving couple. Aruna and Suresh Jagtiani

Shailesh Haribhakti went to the USA  to audit Zebra, and has issued a glowing report on it’s incredible achievements.

     Suresh’s present goal is to widen Zebra’s installations. He believes that life does not end till it ends and that happiest is he, who is happy doing what he loves doing.

     He is happily married to Aruna and the couple has two wonderful children. While daughter Aditi Adajania is a professional employed in Bombay, son Savitar has just relocated to Dubai from the USA.

Fit as a fiddle. That’s Suresh Jagtiani for you