Ram Buxani has been a resident of Dubai for nearly six decades with a rags to riches tale that can make a great Hollywood script. He has played a key role in the growth of the ITL Cosmos Group rising from being an office assistant in 1959 to be the chairman in 2014.
Buxani’s name is synonymous with grit and determination, a quality required to succeed in the competitive city of Dubai. His achievements read like a credits sequence at the end of a movie with him having a hand in literally every aspect of the Indian community’s growth in the UAE. He is the Founder-Chairman of the Overseas Indians Economic Forum, a prime NRI organisation which subsequently merged with the Indian Business & Professional Council in 2003.
In 1983, he also received a shield from the President of India for his contributions to the NRI community. His involvement extends to institutions like India Club Dubai, of which he served as chairman from 2012 - 2015. He earlier chaired the Club from 1990 to 1994. He was also chairman of the Indian High School Dubai from 2000 to 2004. He is on the Board of Trustees of both organizations.
ITL Cosmos Group has entered its seventh decade with an open mind. “It is time for consolidation and sustaining the heights achieved”, says Dr. Ram Buxani. Drawing from Dubai’s example which has been its ‘partner in progress’, he states that “Dubai was in the 19th century when the world was in the 20th century, and when the world is still in the 20th century, Dubai began to leap and bound into the 21st century”.
Dr. Buxani candidly remarks that probably it is time for ITL Cosmos Group to take that leap. The Group’s consistent business ethic to change on its own terms has provided confidence to its shareholders and its Board of Directors to take stock of the current situation, revamp its operations and look at succession planning closely to ensure continuity but with a new horizon in mind.
Dr. Ram Buxani’s autobiography – Taking the High Road - has struck a chord not only with long-time Dubai residents but also with readers across the globe as they get a glimpse into the struggles and victories of a community that comprised Emiratis and expatriates alike.
The book aptly illustrates how just over 50 years ago, although it sounds like a fairytale, the Bedouins used to collect potable water from Jumeirah wells in kerosene tins and transport them to Dubai on donkeys or by carts and charged 4 annas (a quarter of a rupee — then the local currency) for a tin of water. This was a period when kerosene lamps used to light up lives and power Dubai’s merchant trade economy. Dubai did not have electricity supply, except homes for the privileged few, powered by generators.
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