RAJ Pati Kewal is renown as a pioneer and for her entrepreneurial skills.
What many do not realise is that the same acumen, intelligence and vigilance she successfully applied in the male-dominated bus industry, she applied in her community work.
Ms Kewal took over the bus business after her husband's death in 1965. She was 31 years old then.
"Running a bus business was no joke and I faced lot of challenges," she said.
Ms Kewal said she was a very determined person and that is what helped her to be successful.
"I find my own time from running the business to attend meetings for organisations I am a member of," she said.
Today, she not only owns Island Buses Limited but she also owns Island Auto Spares.
Ms Kewal said it was her desire to help people and serve different organisations that were somehow involved in providing service to the people.
It is now 44 years since she started running the business and Ms Kewal is also the recipient of many honorary awards.
Among the awards are the prestigious Member of British Empire (MBE) and Member of the Order of Fiji (MOF).
She is listed among the leaders in the book Fiji's Outstanding People of the 20th Century written in 1998 by a collection of authors at the International Biographical Centre in Cambridge, England.
The businessman who nominated Ms Kewal, who wishes to remain anonymous, said he decided to nominate her because she engaged in community work and helped needy people despite her busy schedule.
In her eagerness to help alleviate poverty, she founded the Poor Relief Society of which she is a trustee.
She personally supplies 40 people with food every month.
Ms Kewal is also the chairperson of the Tamavua Hospital board and has been a member since 1987.
She said that as a board member, her responsibilities included ensuring that the patients were well looked after.
"We have to see that everything is in order and the patients given good service."
Ms Kewal is the vice-president of the Girl Guides Association and a board member of the Suva Rural Local Authority.
She is also the patron of the Women's Information Network (WINET-Fiji) which is a non-government charitable trust organisation formed in 2001 with a mission to inform and educate women on various issues that affect their everyday life.
She is also the executive member of the Fiji Scouts Association, a life and council member of the St John Ambulance and member of the International Women's Association.
Ms Kewal also serves in the National Advisory Council of Fiji.
She was awarded a Lifetime Achievement Award in the Westpac Businesswoman of the Year in 2004.
Three of her children are overseas and the two, who are based here, help her run the business.
She is into sports and plays golf.
