My Family

His teaching career began in 1971 at Adarsh Vidyalaya, Upleta, while he was still a college student himself. A natural orator and cultural force, he rose from primary school teacher to Principal of K. S. Kansagara Mahila College, Rajkot — across a career spanning more than 35 years. Even after reaching the most senior administrative posts, he held firmly to one principle: education first. His students still affectionately call him “the President who takes periods” — a leader who never let his offices come between him and a classroom.

Beyond the lecture hall, he became a legendary figure in India’s National Service Scheme (NSS). As Programme Co-ordinator for Saurashtra University for nearly two decades, he earned the title of Bhishma Pitamah of NSS — leading from the front through the 2001 Gujarat earthquake, cyclone relief operations and countless village-level initiatives. His integrity was as defining as his service: he famously refused a National Award when he felt the selection process had been compromised by political pressure, proving that his principles mattered far more to him than any honour.

His life is a lived embodiment of the Bhagavad Gita’s Karmayogi ideal — to act with full commitment, without attachment to reward. Despite holding influential seats in the University Senate and Syndicate, he never converted that influence into personal gain, choosing instead to live in a rented home for 22 years while ensuring his siblings were educated and settled. A photographer, a tabla and harmonium player, a perpetual student of life — today, even in retirement, he continues to serve numerous educational and charitable trusts as an honorary guide. He says his greatest pride lies not in his long list of accolades, but in the love of his family and the thousands of students whose lives he has helped shape.

• Karmayogi
• Resilience
• Integrity
• Education First
• Mentorship
• Service

While my father poured himself into thousands of students and NSS volunteers, my mother held the home front together — and quietly fueled his rise. When he could not afford a bicycle in his early years, she handed over her wedding blessing money and insisted he buy one. She treated every milestone of his as her own, fueling it with her savings, her time and an unwavering belief that has never asked anything in return.

Her greatest gift, my father openly says, was raising me. “Chintan is what he is today because of his mother.” She walked me to Mahatma Gandhi School every single day, became my first teacher, and shaped — gently but exactingly — the curiosity and confidence I carry into the world. Years later, with the same discernment and love, she chose Sneha as a partner for me, welcoming her into a home she had spent a lifetime building.

One image of my parents stays with me above all others. In our small rented home, after I had been put into my cradle, they would turn that single room into my father’s makeshift dark room. As he developed his prints, she would sit beside him — gently rocking the cradle to keep me asleep. A woman standing quietly in the shadows, working tirelessly to make sure the lights of her husband’s and her son’s lives stayed bright. That, in one frame, is my mother.

• Selflessness
• Grace
• Resilience
• Nurturer
• Quiet Strength

Sneha represents a new chapter of professional excellence in our family. After lending her expertise to Xpertnest in its formative years, she found the courage and creativity to forge her own path — founding Nestoon, an AI Animation Studio sitting right at the intersection of technology and storytelling. It is the same scientific, confident temperament my father once recognised in me, now expressed in a fresh form: a pioneer not only in our home, but in a fast-changing digital landscape.

Above everything, Sneha lives by our family’s most deeply held value — education and family first. When Arya and Aryan needed her most, she made the conscious choice to step back from a rising career to nurture them through their most formative years, all while keeping her entrepreneurial fire quietly alive for the future. It is the same selfless devotion that has shaped every generation of women in this family.

She also made one of the harder choices of our life look effortless: when we decided to leave London and settle back in Rajkot in 2014, her adaptability and grace were what made my father’s long-held wish for a “return to roots” possible. The strong tuning between the generations of our family — old and new, traditional and modern — runs, in many ways, through her.

• Partner
• Founder
• Educator
• Nurturer
• Adaptability
• Grace