Early Days

In 1885, a young, not-yet 14 year old Indarchand left his native village in Rajasthan and landed in Kolkata city with twenty five rupees worth of silver in his pocket. With that money, he bought some semi-precious stones and began selling them. Gradually, he graduated to dealing in diamonds and his ethical way of business so endeared him to his clients that by 1910, he led one of the largest diamond jewelry firms in the city.

Strength of Character

During the the Great Depression that lasted from 1929-1939, he lost his fortune to globally nose-diving prices, such that his stocks of precious gems came to lose all value. However, even in the face of such adversity, he refused to file for bankruptcy like so many of his peers had done and paid back his foreign suppliers, who themselves asked him to forget their payments, along with interest over the next decade or so. In doing so, he set a high ethical lesson that is unfathomable in today’s age.

Relevance Today

Is it possible to script same success story today?Interestingly, because of the economics of scale made possible by machine-based mass production, semi precious stones still cost approximately the same as they did way back in 1885.

At SINGEM, we seek to create a new Indarchand everyday.