His parents wanted him to become a doctor. He wanted to be a pilot. He didn't meet the criteria for either, so he became a billionaire. At the age of 66, BR Shetty's life has been as intriguing as it is entertaining. And he knows it.
"It's why I don't watch movies, my life is one," the chairman of the sprawling, multi-sector $4 billion (Dh14.68bn) NMC Group told Emirates Business.
A quick tour of several photographs and official citations that line his Abu Dhabi office, and we're taken back to 1954. Then aged 12, he was hell-raiser and every parent's nightmare. Unknowingly, he was about to discover discipline.
His parents packed him off to a government-run fisheries high school, tucked in a village far away from his hometown Kapu in the South Indian district of Udupi.
To his surprise, he was made the student leader and suddenly the onus was on him to pass every exam.
"As student leader, I couldn't afford to fail. It gave me the drive to study," said Shetty, who passed the year with a 60 per cent score.
In college, he jumped into sport to "become popular".
"At that age, all you want to do is impress your peers and the girls. But sport taught me how to deal with failure, which has come handy throughout my life."
At the age of 20, in his first year of science graduation, Shetty enrolled in the Indian Air Force. He had always wanted to be a pilot. He gave the interview and received his acceptance. But it came eight days too late. He had just turned 21 years old – the official cut-off age for student pilots.
Instead, he was offered a liaison job at the air force hangar, which he served for two years. He had graduated in clinical pharmacy, and now it was time to sell pharmaceuticals.
"My parents wanted me to become a doctor, but I never scored the marks for it. So becoming a medical rep was the next best thing. I took a distributorship from Bombay, went back to Udupi and kicked off my lifelong career," said Shetty.
Udupi, however, had other ideas. His father, Shambhu Shetty, had served as its municipal councillor for 15 years. The district never recovered from his death in 1966. His son was back. He had to stand for elections; he had to carry on the work.
The 24-year-old stood for election, won in a landslide and though carrying on his father's legacy made him proud, it also made him bankrupt. He had no money and a 1961 Morris Minor.
"I had stockpiles of all these medicines," he said. "As a politician in those days, as it should be even today, you couldn't run a business. So I distributed all of it as a sort of charity. Very soon I ran out of money.
"After I finished my first five-year term, I had no money to run for the next election. But the people insisted. They took the money they got for their votes from the opposition parties and voted for me instead.
"It was brilliant and a sheer sign of their recognition of my work," said Shetty, adding that politics has come full circle today, with ministers from India relentlessly calling him for money.
Two years into his second term, Shetty's financial deterioration caught up. He was now filling gas on credit. "I had to do something. Some of my voters who worked in the UAE suggested I move to Abu Dhabi, which had just got its independence. Sensing an opportunity, I left India in 1973."
In Abu Dhabi, Shetty applied for every job. Pharmaceutical jobs were only for UAE nationals. Other jobs did not allow for pharmacy students. He was suffering. When he was turned away from a job that required collecting telephone bills, Shetty panicked.
"I went to a pharmacy and told the pharmacist I'd go out and sell all the stock he had lying in his warehouse. He was stunned.
"There was no such concept at the time and no roads. But that was my expertise. I would go straight to the doctors and sell it. So he said 'yes'. I can proudly tell you I was the first outdoor salesman in this country."
Two years into loading vans with medicine cartons, and then an oil company launched its first operation. Shetty smelled opportunity.
Through his network, he successfully approached the then Minister of Labour and Social Affairs, Abdulla Humaid Al Mazroei, to partner him in a diagnostic centre venture. It would be called New Medical Centre (NMC).
It started with an investment of Dh15,000 and would rapidly spread across various sectors, including pharmacy, trading, hospitality, financial services, jewellery, beauty salons, a laundromat and that other money-spinner – UAE Exchange.
But UAE Exchange was not planned.
"Somebody started the foreign exchange business with my partner on my persistence," he said. "They tried to siphon the money and by the time I came to know of it the debt was Dh18million. My partner brought it to my notice and it became my responsibility.
"I took it from there, brought in proper governance and discipline and today it is our biggest business," he said, as his Blackberry beeps with the latest sales report.
His diverse business interests are products of necessity. His diagnostic centre needed a canteen, so he started one. Peers suggested turning it into a restaurant to cater to everyone. He did. He called it Foodlands.
His hospitals needed sterilisation for its sheets and better-value medicines. He started a pharmaceutical manufacturing company (Neo-pharma) and a laundromat (Al Aseel Laundry). When he wasn't satisfied with his staff's hair-cuts, he set up a barber shop. Today, any of his 15,000 employees can flock there for a Dh10 trim.
"He was my hairdresser for 34 years and my staff needed hair cuts," he said. "So I gave him a shop and a comfortable life with a three-bedroom house and he gives my staff great value."
Married to Dr Chandrakumari since 1976, Shetty has three daughters – Neema, 30, Reema, 28, and Seema, 27 – and a son, Binoy, 25. They're all in the family business and he would have it no other way. None are doctors. They're all management grads – two from Boston.
He owes his success to his people, and their sincerity and loyalty to their customers. To him life is as simple as he makes it – and he enjoys life's luxuries.
This explains his Dh250,000, diamond-studded Cartier watch. And the Dh200,000 8.5-carat diamond ring he takes off to allow Emirates Business to examine. "I'm a little bit like a lady. I like rings and jewellery. Just a little bit though, because I also love cars and sports."
Lifestyle Cv
Cars
I own five Rolls-Royce. I have a 1985, 1989 and 1990 Silver Spirit. And the Phantom. I also have a Mercedes Maybach and a Lexus. But I still love my 1961 Morris Minor the most. I enjoy driving it more than the Rolls Royce.
Collections
I collect antique jewellery, arms, cars and watches. I own about 25 watches, each costing between Dh150,000 and Dh200,000.
Normal day
Wake up to phone calls. One-hour gym routine. Half-an-hour cardio, 30 minutes of weights. No personal trainer. Small oatmeal breakfast. Work. Small lunch at 1pm. Afternoon nap for 30 minutes, which is an absolute must. Work. Small dinner. Watch CNN, read Emirates Business. Sleep.
Keep up with the latest business news from the region with the Emirates Business 24|7 daily newsletter. To subscribe to the newsletter, please click here.