The story of real estate mogul Niranjan Hiranandani, 71, is the story of Mumbai. A little bit of the maximum city’s chequered history, its evolution, and its challenges, can be pieced together in the choices that Niranjan, the son of Mumbai’s well-known ENT surgeon Dr Lakhumal Hiranand Hiranandani, made.

In a free-wheeling chat with AKADialog, Dr Niranjan, ranked by Forbes among the 100 richest Indians, shares his entrepreneurial journey, his leadership mantra, and his love for the city of Mumbai.

Your biggest influence?

My father was my friend, philosopher and guide. He has been the perfect father to me and to all my siblings: love, affection and care carefully balanced with also teaching about risk taking, handling responsibilities and being a good human being. The realities of life were ingrained into me by my father. I will always be grateful to him for the same.
My reason for not choosing to follow my father’s profession arose from what he had taught me: since I did not feel I was cut out to be a doctor like him, and also because I was interested in other areas of human endeavour, like business, I opted not to become a doctor like my father.
I can’t say he was elated by my decision. But he did give me the support to pursue my dreams. And no, while he did ensure that I weighed the pros and cons of my decision, he did not need ‘convincing’. My parents have been supportive of all siblings, and they have consistently supported us in all our endeavors – my career being one such thing.
My father remains the biggest influence in my life.