FOR the past 89 years, it has become a household name in Fiji.
Motibhai and Company Ltd has become synonymous with service and products ranging from wholesaling and retailing to manufacturing, distribution, real estate, media and hospitality.
On Friday, June 26, 1970, The Fiji Times published an interview with the late Motibhai B. Patel, the founder of the company. Mr Motibhai Patel arrived in Fiji from Bombay in 1929 at the age of 24.
After working for a Ba merchant for a while, he decided to establish his own business.
He obtained a lease on a quarter-acre lot at Kumkum, about six miles from Ba, from a well-known Ba identity, Mr Jang Bahadur Singh.
The two eventually became life-long friends and bonds between the two families became strong. Mr Motibhai Patel started a country store in 1931 and within a short time he had secured a long list of
regular customers.
“Tall and erect in bearing at 66, Mr Motibhai Patel happily reminisced his earlier struggles while relaxing in a swivel chair,” reported The Fiji Times.
“In those days there were few roads and fewer lorries. Freighting goods was a big problem, especially to a country store such as mine,” Mr Motibhai Patel was quoted as saying.
“I used to carry my stocks on CSR Co. Ltd’s rail-trucks during the crushing season. After these goods were unloaded at a point closest to my store, I had to get a pair of bullocks and a sledge
to haul them to my shop about five chains away.
“On other occasions, I carted goods on horseback to build up my stocks. I was all alone, but I shall always be grateful to Mr JB Singh who helped me greatly in getting my business going.
“Through his infl uence, I was able to get several customers in that area and nearabouts,” he said.
In 1935 Mr Motibhai Patel called his wife and a brother, Mr Prabhudas B Patel, from India to join him. On arrival, Mr PB Patel joined a local solicitor for whom he worked as a law clerk for several years.
A year later, Mr Motibhai Patel got another brother, Mr Parshottamdas Patel, to join him from Bombay.
“After prospering well in their business in the country, the two brothers decided to start a business in the town.
In 1944, they rented out a small building in Ganga St, Ba and started a general store,” reported this newspaper.
Two years later, they bought the building from the original owner and Mr Motibhai Patel moved into the town to look after it. His brother, Mr PB Patel, remained at Kumkum, to look after the store.
As their business began to expand, the other brother clerking for the lawyer was called upon to join them. Mr Parshottam Patel joined the business in 1948. The founder, Mr Motibhai Patel, went to India on a five-year vacation while hisbrother managed the town shop.
After his return from India, he bought a property in Cumming St, Suva, which was later rented out to a shopkeeper. This was only the first step in what was to become a company with varied interests.
“Mr Motibhai Patel who is mostly self-taught, though he received elementary education during his childhood days in India, is able to converse in passable English,” described The Fiji Times.
“Pleasant, mild-mannered, and ‘not at all mad on making money’, as he puts it, he has passed on the same culture and refinement to his sons who have now become active partners in the company.
“The Patel home is well known for its lavish hospitality.” The current Motibhai Group chairman and CEO, Kirit Patel is the son of Mr Prabhudas B Patel.
