Ardeshir Godrej
| Ardeshir Godrej | |
|---|---|
| Born | 1868 Mumbai |
| Died | 1936 |
| Nationality | Indian |
| Occupation | Businessman, Entrepreneur |
| Spouse(s) | Bachubai Godrej |
Ardeshir Burjorji Sorabji Godrej (1868–1936) was an Indian businessman. With his brother Pirojsha Burjorji, he co-founded the Godrej Brothers Company, the precursor of the modern Godrej Group.
Ardeshir was born in 1868 as the first of six children to Burjorji and Dosibai Gootherajee. The Gootherajee's were a wealthy Parsi-Zoroastrian family of Bombay (now Mumbai), and Ardeshir's father Burjorji and grandfather Sorabji dealt in real estate. In January 1871, his father had the family name changed to Godrej.
In 1890, Ardeshir married Bachu (Bachubai), who had just turned eighteen. On 25 April 1891, Bachubai and Ardeshir's second cousin Pirojbai Sohrabji Kamdin decided to climb to the viewing platform of the 85-meter high Rajabai Tower. At the top, one or two miscreants accosted them. According to legend, rather than give into their demands, the two good-looking women jumped. Both lost their lives. Ardeshir rarely spoke of his loss, nor did he ever remarry. Ardeshir and Bachubai had no children.
In 1894, Ardeshir, fresh out of law school, was hired by a well-known firm to argue a case on a client's behalf in Zanzibar. The fine details of the case are not known, but according to his biography, it went well until, towards the end when Ardeshir refused to acknowledge (before the court) that his client had visited a particular place because there was no hard evidence that he had done so. As Ardeshir would later say, it required him to make an assumption that he could not with a good conscience make, and would thus be wrong. Not allowing himself to be convinced, the client had to find a replacement, and Ardeshir returned to Bombay and gave up the law altogether. As Ardeshir would later recall, "instead of seeing my side of the case, I saw both sides, the plaintiff's as well as the defendant's. In this divided state of mind, I realized I'd make a very poor lawyer, whichever side I took."
Upon returning to Bombay after the Zanzibar debacle, Ardeshir was employed at a pharmacy, where he served as an assistant to a chemist. In 1895, Ardeshir visited Merwanji Muncherji Cama, a friend of his father's, and who was highly respected for his business acumen. Ardeshir described his plan to manufacture surgical equipment and asked for a loan. When Cama asked why Ardeshir did not approach his father for the loan, Ardeshir replied that his father would give him the money not as a loan but as a gift, which Ardeshir was not willing to accept. This principle to not accept money as a gift would also become evident in 1918, when his father died: Ardeshir refused to accept the inheritance.
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