Fostering soul mates: Altruistic touch

 DUBAI:  Ramesh, a 29-year-old Indian banker, is a happy man these days: he has found a match in Shalini, 27, also a banker.

Their meeting in Dubai did not come about by chance. It was not arranged by dubious match-makers who charge huge amounts of money but by Ram Tolani, one of Dubai's successful Indian businessmen. For every successful match, Tolani gives the couple a dream dinner at some of Dubai's most posh hubs — the Burj Al Arab, Atlantis or the Armani Hotel — on his account.

Tolani, from Indore, India, was not always this altruistic. "I used to be competitive and argued with people about anything," he said.

He started his career in Dubai in 1974 by selling heavy construction equipment. He shifted to the insurance business in 1983 and founded Goodwill Insurance Brokerage in 1999. The company now employs 28 people with an annual turnover of $10 million (Dh36.7 million).

Now 55, Tolani keeps himself busy matchmaking and collecting coins after being briefly crippled by a stroke in 2008. He has turned over the day-to-day affairs of his business to his son Sanjay, 27.

Man with a passion

Collections displayed in his office-cum-museum today include over 60,000 items, such as coins from the third century BC minted in Mohenjodaro (Sindh province), currency notes issued in Indonesia under the Dutch, British currency used in India in 1864, worth up to $1 million (Dh3.67 million), which he bought from online auctions in the last two years.

As part of his match-making work, Tolani collects CVs of boys and girls.

Ramesh first met Shalini in Tolani's office where they talked in a separate room with their parents' consent.

"The parents must first agree to this meeting. Then it's up to the boy and girl to meet." Out of the 30 pairs of boys and girls that he has been able to meet, seven cases have "materialised" — they are either engaged or married.

But why does he do it? "In our culture, arranged marriages are still the norm. Girls' parents are concerned about their daughter's choice of a partner. Our children will always be part of our wealth."

Last June, India's Congress Party leader Oscar Fernandez conferred on Tolani a Lifetime Achievement Award given by the Delhi-based NRI Institute.

Tolani, who loathes the dowry system, said: "I must give something back, especially to the youngsters who are our future. I've made my money. It's time to enjoy life and that's what I'm doing."