The industrialist recounted how he started out to explain the importance of learning from all possible sources.

“I started by reading and trying to understand everything about construction. The first person who taught me was a contractor whom we had employed. He was illiterate but he had the experience. We would pore over drawings and he would teach me how to read architectural maps,” said Neotia.

“It was such a paradox: here was a man who had perhaps not studied up to Class IV teaching me, a graduate, how to read maps. This set me off. I could accept with humility the knowledge of that person.”

Neotia also spoke about his proximity with his great grandfather and how he would escort him to various discourses. “I think one of the coolest things I did was to pick up the works of Swami Vivekananda. Many would ask how can reading Vivekananda be cool. It was very, very cool because it helped me to understand life in a substantive way.”

His footnote: “Money is a by-product. It is the result of our success but it cannot and should not be the focus of our activities.”