A Leader Shaped by Service
Dr. Chetan Kumar Mehta is, by trade, a builder of one of South India’s most respected jewellery houses. But ask the people who have eaten a meal he arranged, or the families he has stood beside in a hospital ward, and they will describe him differently: as a man who shows up, who listens, and who acts.
That instinct to serve was not learned in a boardroom. It was planted in childhood by his grandmother (Svargeeya Laxmi Bai Dadi Sa), after whom his company is named. From her he absorbed two simple principles that still govern how he lives: “live and let live,” and “share and give.” Everything that follows (the enterprise, the recognition, the public work) flows from those two ideas.
“As my grandmother always said: live and let live, share and give.Her philosophy is the foundation of everything CKM builds
Since childhood, Dr. Mehta shared a deep bond with his grandmother. She was a steadfast source of inspiration, shaping his values of dedication, service, and leadership. When he named his company Laxmi Diamonds in her honour, it was not sentiment: it was a statement of intent. Every meal served near a government hospital, every child supported through school, every tree planted is, in his mind, her lesson continuing through him.
The Three Sutras
Everything he builds rests on a personal philosophy he returns to again and again:
The fire to begin, to care about a craft, a cause, or a community enough to give it your whole self.
The clarity to see further, beyond the quarter, beyond the self, to what a place and its people could become.
The discipline to deliver, because intention without execution helps no one. Vision is only real when it feeds someone.
The Man Today
Today he carries the responsibilities of a Chairman and Managing Director, the elected leadership of his industry’s most important bodies, and an honorary doctorate. Yet his defining work is quieter and closer to the ground: feeding the hungry, supporting the sick, lifting up young people, and protecting a craft tradition five thousand years old. He has built the capability of an executive and chosen to point it at the needs of ordinary people.