Page 102 - The Indian Optician Digital Edition July-August 2021

RM: Business is all about customer relations, joy in the ordinary. Life is all about the small
honesty and quality. These are the golden words things. Success is bound to come if we put in
I have taught my sons. And they swear by it. My the hard work and effort. There are no shortcuts
elder son Atul has learned optometry and so to success. And nothing that is worth having
we are able to provide more holistic eye care comes easy.
and provide a one stop solution for eye care.
Grit and determination are two key factors to TIO: Lastly, how would you like to be
succeed in life. Accepting responsibility for one’s remembered?
own mistakes is what makes a man successful. I RM: Everyone in the optical Association
taught my sons not to play the blame game and fraternity fondly calls me kaka. I hope that Kaka
learn from mistakes. They are inspired by my is synonymous with Asian Opticians. I hope that
journey and they want to put in more hard work everyone remembers me for the hard work, the
so that our legacy of Asian Opticians is carried determination and the friendships that I have
forward for years on end. achieved. During my tenure as president of the
TIO: The life you have lived is sure to be optical Association I made it a point to organise
full of many good and bad stories. Please trips to many locations so that family and friends
share an interesting anecdote that you fondly alike could bond and get to know each other
remember till date? better. It was my motto that by the end of it all
everyone would have an extended family in the
RM: I was the president of the Suburban optical fraternity that they could count on.
Optical Association for 35 years and I felt nothing
but joy in service. In appreciation, even the
Mumbai Optical Association bestowed me with
several honours and awards. And I remember
those days very fondly. It's not about the award
don't get me wrong. It means something much
more for me – it signifies how everyone in the
optical fraternity recognised my efforts and saw
me for who I was. A small-town boy with big
dreams. Those days made all the struggle worth
it. I felt that I was sharing my dream with the
people I cared about and they respected me for
it. The respect I saw in their eyes for me was truly
gratifying and motivated me to work harder to
make a mark in people’s lives – that day I also felt
like I had succeeded in my life.
TIO: We salute our elders who are farmore
experienced and truly make the best teachers
in the world! Please say some inspiring words
of wisdom for the future generation/or for our
readers.
RM: The current generation is very impatient
and hence, the pace of life is extremely fast.
Everyone is too busy working and don’t spare
enough time to appreciate what is around
them. My advice is to dream big and chase
your dreams and have faith in yourself but in
this chase, we should not forget to enjoy and RATILAL MEHTA
appreciate the small things in life and find WITH FAMILY

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