Desi News Corp - Index

Desi News Corp - Desi News - Feb 09 - Index

with them and we all share the
rewards. It is personally very
rewarding to me that I have
created many multi-millionaires
in Canada.”
His family plays an important
part in his phenomenal
success. Chanchlani says they
managed to balance professional
and family life and raise
their kids with wholesome values.
In fact, he sees his closeknit,
focused family as his biggest
achievement. He is also
very proud of his wife.
“Apart from being a very
successful physician in her own
right, Jayshree is truly my partner
in every sense of the word
in all my philanthropy work.”
The Chanchlanis have three
children. Sonia has done her
MBBS from Royal College of
Surgeons at Dublin, Ireland;
Tina is in her final year of med
school at University of Leicester,
England; and Neil is in his
third year of med school at
University of Birmingham, England.
He sees no difficulties ahead
of them for having chosen to
study abroad.
“It could be that rules are
relaxed now due to a shortage
of physicians. Also, partly due
to a combination of their being
born Canadian and having
gone to prestigious universities,
I don’t believe they will face any
problems in practising medicine
in Canada.”
To those foreign-trained
doctors and engineers who are
looking to make their future in
NARI MAVALWALLA/DESI NEWS
Canada, Chanchlani has these
words of advice:
Be willing to go beyond
metro Toronto or Ottawa.
“Our doctors are retiring,
there is a shortage. The government
is increasingly more receptive
to foreign-trained professionals
and recognizes qualifications
from reputed Indian
universities. Obviously, one has
to pass a qualifying exam and
the more current you are in
technology and subject matter,
the easier it will be. Someone
who is going to sit on their laurels
and claim they have practised
medicine for 25 years in
India might find it harder if
they haven’t updated their
knowledge.”
Believing that favourable societal
conditions were largely responsible
for his success, he
wanted to share his good fortune.
Those who have seen success
outside their country of
birth tend to carry a sense of
guilt for abandoning their
country, he says, and like most
others, he began by giving to
temples and community centres.
When his children pointed
out that he should also
support good causes in
Canada that were not
necessarily desi, he gave
$100,000 to the Trillium
Foundation and he also
contributes to UNICEF
Canada.
But Chanchlani believes
donations don’t
have a lasting impact
and he was looking for
a way to connect the
land where he was born
and the land where he found
success. He was looking to create
a bridge, a social organization
that would have a lasting
impact on public policy in
Canada and India, and to this
end, helped found the Canada
India Foundation.
With the foundation, he created
the Chanchlani Global Indian
Award because he believes
that lasting change can be
brought about by investing in
education and political systems.
The $1 million endowment
goes toward giving a $50,000
award annually to an individual
who has made a significant
contribution to India and
Canada. The award serves the
twin purposes of influencing
public policy in each of these
countries and also creates visible
presence for Indo-Canadians
amongst the policy makers
in Canada.
“I wanted to express our
admiration for global leaders,”
says Chanchlani, whose aim is
to expand the award money to
$1 million. Last year, Sam
Pitroda received the award
from former president of In-
dia, Dr Abdul Kalam Azad at
a glittering awards ceremony in
Toronto.
Chanchlani has, to-date,
given and pledged over $2 million
to various causes.
“Have I done enough? The
simple answer is no. I think
there’s a lot more work to be
done.”
There is no recipe for success,
there are ingredients, says
Chanchlani. Using those ingredients
in the best possible manner
makes that recipe unique
and proportionate – and that’s
success.
Chanchlani believes attitude
is everything.
“Attitude accounts for 95
per cent of success; aptitude or
talent or whatever you wish to
call it, for just about five per
cent. A willingness to work hard
and with the right team, those
are also prime ingredients.
“But the most important
thing in my view is to enjoy the
whole process of success, for
life to be meaningful.”
– SHAGORIKA E ASWAR