Team Bharat Gaurav

Bharat Gaurav Manoj Harbhajanka - London

Manoj lives in London with his wife, two sons, and three gorgeous Bengal cats.

He successfully leads a specialist, boutique consulting firm as Founder CEO, and Chairman. The firm is an international enterprise with over 125 people across the US, UK, UAE India & Japan. He is a results-oriented, strategic thinker and business leader with exceptional management skills. He has a coaching leadership style that develops trusted relationships. He has the ability and experience in consulting large enterprise CxOs and delivering results through business and technology transformation. Besides this, he has been actively involved in fostering and developing start-ups in the tech space and engaged with charitable organizations in the spirit of ‘giving back to society.

Manoj grew up in a big and closely knit joint family in Calcutta. At any given point, there would be 35-40 family members and 10-15 houseguests. Even though not very affluent, there was always a bed and food available for anyone who needed it, from travelers to politicians. The Harbhajanka household would always cater and plan for much larger groups when they came over for festivals around Calcutta such as Durga Pooja & Ganga Sagar Mela. 

Children of this family grew up immersed in talks of trade and commerce and Manoj was no exception. He had always been a reflective child prone to asking his elders testing and soul-searching questions. Eventually, wanting to explore more, Manoj decided to join ISKCON at the ripe old age of 14 but was unceremoniously dragged back home by his family. Thereafter, Manoj focused on education while continuing to engage in spiritual discourse with anyone who would be willing: peers, teachers, gurus, and even priests for temples and churches.

For college, Manoj went to Pune and the next four years of engineering passed in a flash. This is where Manoj picked up the nickname ‘Max’ from the iconic Mad Max films because of his penchant for motorbikes. Cross country, dirt-track racing, and road rallies were his passion. This love for engines and speed has sustained over the years. Manoj is a qualified Advanced Rider in the UK, trained and tested by ex-police instructors. At some point, he would like to volunteer as a ‘blood runner’ which entails being available at very short notice to deliver life-critical blood or organs within London. 

Manoj returned to join the family business after completing his engineering with a first-class degree and having worked for Kirloskar Oil Engines for a year as a management trainee. The family business entailed the import, manufacture, and distribution of high-pressure boilers and engineering steel tubes. In the next few years, he attempted to develop several businesses in export, import, manufacturing, and technology but the results were not to his satisfaction. Having spent 5 years under the umbrella of the family business, he decided to understand the corporate world a bit more and bring the learnings into his future endeavors. 

Manoj changed his career track to business and technology consulting by developing new skills in enterprise applications such as SAP and Oracle. This allowed him to work as a consultant for large enterprises, thus his career developed as an SAP expert. He consulted for companies like Haldia Petrochemicals, Pricol, Dr. Reddy’s Lab, and L&T while in India. He got chosen for a project with Unilever and moved to Chester, the UK in the year 2000. A couple of years later, he was selected for Warwick Business School’s MBA program which he completed with distinction. This also landed him a new job with PwC in London. However, this was also a time of significant struggle. Work, study, fees, and raising a young family all together were never going to be easy. At PwC, Manoj was soon promoted to be a senior manager with significant responsibility and a large team to manage. He gained the trust of his seniors and partners and rapidly progressed through the hierarchy to be a leader of Financial Systems for PwC across Europe.

In 2011, Manoj moved to BP as the IT Strategy leader and developed several key strategies for BP. He also held the responsibility of managing the global long-term roadmap for BP’s technology landscape. However, this move to BP came at a rather low point in his life when he struggled with severe back issues before and after two spinal surgeries. This period was a constant battle with pain, day in and day out for almost three years. He started meditating again and attended several vipassana courses. Over the next few years, Manoj also decided to get back to his original idea of developing a consulting business. Consequently, in 2016, he left BP and started Acuiti Labs, a boutique consulting firm with three main strategic pillars; Employees First, Domain Focus and Always deliver business value, not technology. Acuiti Labs started life at a shared office within the Google Campus in London’s Silicon roundabout. Over the following 6 years, through blood, sweat, tears, and a lot of joy, Acuiti Labs has grown into a fledgling global business. 

Sports have always been an important part of Manoj’s life. He is an avid golfer and motorbike enthusiast. He has represented his school in multiple sports and quiz contests over the years. Also, he is driven by ‘giving back to society and ensuring the wellbeing of everyone who works with him. This has taken many shapes and forms over the years: from his role as a voluntary Police officer in Kolkata, acting as a governor for a London school for autistic children, and chairing The Rajasthani Foundation in the UK, which supports multiple charities in India and supporting several cause-based charities through Acuiti Labs. He has also ensured that significant shares of his company are distributed within the organization to ensure growth for all individuals who are part of the success story at Acuiti Labs. However, all this pales in significance next to Manoj’s real journey which is to follow the path that was laid by Gautam Buddha. Deep routed neutrality governs his life. He strongly believes in the quote by Allan Locos - accepting the reality of change gives rise to equanimity. His reality is that besides the high-pressure job as a CEO he needs to ensure that he is developing spiritually and enriching the lives of people around them daily.

by Team Bharat Gaurav

Bharat Gaurav Kuldeep Sharma - King of Hotel Chains in Canada

Kuldeep Sharma, President & CEO of Crown Group of Hotels, migrated to Canada in 2002 in the business category. Acquired his first hotel in Canada after detaching from Indian operations in January 2013 by name of Quality Hotel Burlington and the second hotel Courtyard by Marriott Brampton was acquired in 2014. In 2016, just 3 years into Canadian hospitality, Crown Group of Hotels employs over 300 associates and has added 3 additional hotels to its portfolio, and owns internationally recognized flagged hotels with the names: Marriott, Hilton, Intercontinental Hotel Group, Best Western& Choice Hotels across Ontario. He represents the new generation of Indians that have migrated to the business category to contribute to the economic growth of Canada.

A simple boy born in Jalandhar turned out to be a business visionary across two nations. Not just once, but he has proved his mettle twice by making his life from scratch. With a broad smile on his face, he states, “I am fortunate to call myself the son of Major Ram Kumar Sharma, a World War II veteran. My three siblings and I grew up in Army cantonments. Hence, discipline became a way of life. Whatever I am today is because my father steered me in the right direction and shortcuts were always frowned upon! My mother, Vidya, was a rather simple lady yet strong-headed. She has an immense contribution in setting me on a growth trajectory.”

Kuldeep completed his schooling in various cities like Lucknow, Ambala, Pune, Srinagar, etc. – wherever his father was posted. He completed his college at Gandhi Memorial National College in Ambala. He graduated in 1978, around when his father retired. They built up a house in Faridabad, Haryana, and started a small security company as it did not require much finance. This security company later employed over 10,000 employees at its peak on a pan-India basis. Despite a successful business and lifestyle, he left his Indian operations to permanently settle in Canadian business. Today, Crown Group of Hotel’s portfolio is over $200 million with perpetual plans of expansion that exceed over a billion dollars.

Kuldeep is an avid traveler and visits multiple countries every year. Learning from global experiences and incorporating new ideas into his company has won his company hotels many awards over the years. With a fresh approach to hospitality and a key focus on guest satisfaction, the sales and performance of his company exceed the norms of the Canadian industry.

In 2017, Mr. Kuldeep Sharma was recognized and awarded the prestigious “Royal Bank of Canada Top 25 Canadian Immigrant Award”.

Apart from his hotels, Sharma’s group is also in the process of building over 2,000apartment units in Ottawa as part of their $800-million project.

His extraordinary growth comes from his rich experience of managing the struggles all Canadian Immigrants face positively and creatively, channeling the opportunities available for the successful growth of his company and those around him.

Kuldeep Sharma is a frequent sponsor and supporter of Chamber of Commerce, Board of Trade, Film Festivals, Beauty Pageants, City Tourism, Youth Internship Programs from Colleges/Universities, multiple non-for-profit organizations, Health foundations, and many more community organizations. His presence can be felt in all the cities Crown Group of Hotels operates& has operated in: Ottawa, Brampton, Mississauga, Barrie, Burlington, Brantford & Sarnia. He has been recognized by organizations for giving back to the community and mentoring. He is the past-President of ‘Indo-Canada Harmony Forum’&‘Haryana Association of North America’, organizations that aim to unite the Indian diaspora in Canada; as well as a past advisor to organizations such as the Indo-Canada Chamber of Commerce, National Alliance of India-Canada, Panorama India, etc. He is also a Board of Directors with the Canada India Foundation which helps unite and grow bilateral trade between India & Canada.

by Team Bharat Gaurav

Bharat Gaurav Jaykrishna Pathak - Indian Yarn Industry

Dr. Jaykrishna D Pathak is one of the most renowned names in the Indian Yarn industry. Having a glorious business career spanning over 4 decades, he is respected not only as a reputed entrepreneur in the yarn industry but also as one of the prime proponents for making yarn trading a safe practice and ensuring the safety of all the traders and businesses involved in this industry.

At the very beginning of his career, he left the comforts of his family set up and forayed into the business from scratch without the financial backing of family or the guidance of the seniors. With a humble start full of trials and tribulations, he managed to make a mark in the local yarn market as a trader of polyester yarns garnering great credibility and trust. This led to him holding the monopoly for the Yarn trade of one of the biggest manufacturers of polyester yarns, Indorama Synthetics, for Mumbai for 17 years.

With passing time, he was associated with all top manufacturers. Clocking very high volumes, Dr. Pathak leveraged his aggressive marketing, a flair for understanding the trends, and credible working methods to lead him to become one of the most bankable traders in the industry. He further has developed as one of the premier suppliers for polyester staple fiber a raw material to spin yarns and also runs spinning mills on job-work in Silvassa and Coimbatore. He also has delved into the exports of yarns. Exporting to over 15 countries across the world.

In 2005, he was elected as the President of the Bombay Yarn Merchants’ Association and Exchange Ltd. – the governing association to oversee the yarn trade in Mumbai, Maharashtra. Over the next 17 years, he has been consecutively elected as the President the yarn association unopposed. Under his leadership, the association has gained tremendous recognition. His vision was always to make the yarn industry a safer and more conducive place for all that partake in the trading activities. One of the biggest strides on that front has been that Dr. Pathak is responsible to oversee arbitration proceedings for trade disputes thereby making the business activities of members a safer practice. He is also currently the Senior Vice President of the Federation of Associations of Maharashtra (FAM) which is the apex body of all trading associations for the state of Maharashtra. He is also an advisory committee member for Kalupur Commercial Bank. For all his services to the business community, he has been conferred with an honorary doctorate.

He has subsequently forayed into the real estate sector as well and developed and runs a shopping complex, luxury villas, and multiple shooting studios. On the social front, he has given a lot back to society as well. He has a charitable trust running under his mother’s name, where the patients can avail of services from expert doctors in allopathy, homeopathy and ayurvedic treatments at a very nominal price. He also is an integral contributor to a dialysis center that does dialysis for just Rs.1 for the financially challenged. He is also running a weekly food distribution program.

He has two sons, Mr. Punit Pathak, who is a well-known celebrity in the Indian Film Industry. An Actor, Choreographer, and Director, he’s been featured in many blockbuster movies and has been seen as a judge on many famous dance reality shows, and is a director for many shows and famous music videos.
The younger son, Mr. Nishit J Pathak has joined Dr. Jaykrishna Pathak and looks into the international trade business and ongoing real estate development sites. He also takes care of the investment wing and is an angel investor investing in early-stage start-ups.

by Team Bharat Gaurav