Philanthropy in Property: Inder Bhagnani’s Impact on Dubai Laborers

In this episode of the Indian Community Podcast, hosts Amit Gupta and Rahul Mehra converse with Inder Bhagnani, an entrepreneur, philanthropist, and adventurer. Inder shares his journey from Mumbai to Dubai, his successful real estate business RK Property, and his impactful NGO initiative, Feed a Labor, which nourishes 3,000 workers weekly. He speaks about his transformative experiences, entrepreneurial lessons, and the balance between work, health, and social contributions. Whether you're into real estate, community service, or personal growth, Inder's insights offer valuable takeaways.

#indiancommunity #dubai #feedalabour #charity #charitymatters #labourlifeindubai #dubaicharity #zakat #inderbhagnani

Transcript

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So I've worked in a supermarket, uh, I've worked in a shoe shop, I've worked as a peon. What is the impact that you're seeing in the community? We are feeding about 3, 000 people every week. Welcome to the Indian Community Podcast. I'm your host, Amit Gupta, along with my co host, Rahul Mehra. Today, we're excited to have Inder Bhagnani with us. Inder is an entrepreneur, philanthropist, adventurer, and also the owner of RK Property in Dubai. He has not only built a successful real estate business, but is also dedicated to helping others through his NGO, RK Property. Feed a labor, which supports the labor community in Dubai. Inder has traveled to 39 countries and enjoys adventure activities like marathons and cave explorations. Growing up in Mumbai and now living in Dubai has given him a unique view of life and business. In this episode, we're going to explore Inder's journey to Dubai. How he started RK Property, grew his real estate business, and made a positive impact through his social work. Whether you're interested in real estate, community work, or personal growth, this conversation has something for everyone. So let's get started. Welcome to the Indian Community Podcast, Inder. Hi, Amit. And thank you for having me here. What a fabulous introduction. It is a fabulous journey and there's a, we are very, um, uh, pleased to have you on the show. And, uh, you've had an incredibly diverse journey throughout your life from, uh, running a successful, uh, real estate company to traveling across 39 countries. Um, so can you share what has been the most transformative experience in, um, shaping your personal and professional life? Well, definitely. Um, so I would probably refer to my early age. Uh, as soon as I pass it from school, I think the credit goes to my father who said that if there's something in life you wish to make for yourself, you've got to do it on your own. So I'm going to give you three things. Love, food, home, anything beyond that. You've got to go achieve it yourself. So I think, um, My whole entrepreneurial journey, uh, started from there, though my easiest option was to be with my father, who was a very successful, uh, textile merchant for the last 40 years. Uh, but starting from scratch, I think, uh, has shaped me and made me to who I am today. So I personally feel that that was, uh, the, the transformative words for me in order to take up my life. a lot more seriously than what I thought in my teen days. Excellent. And, uh, when you started off with, um, uh, RK Property, were you confident that this is going to be, uh, what it is today? Uh, did you have any fears or doubts? Um, definitely the fear was there, but doubt, uh, it wasn't there. Um, so it's, it's quite an interesting journey because as soon as I got the statement from my father, he said, I could not immediately join real estate because it would have required at that point certain sales skills, which, uh, at a very young age at 16, 17, I didn't have because I didn't have any experience. So I've worked in a supermarket. Uh, I've worked in a shoe shop. I've worked as a peon in a real estate office to see how it operates. And then I applied for a job. And I did work for a few years, uh, in, in the company, gained the experience. And with all the money I had, I took a leap of faith of getting my own, uh, company formed. Uh, my family was with me and others are like, you're too young. You're just 24 years old. And I don't think so. You should be taking that step. You're getting very successful, continue with it. And I think that's going to be a beautiful journey. And in my mind, uh, I was never a finance student, never into marketing. I was just a people's person. So to incorporate those skills, definitely there were little doubts, but, uh, I think that confidence of being that sales person led me into formation of, uh, my real estate company. And what does RK stand for? Well, that's an interesting question. So RK basically are the initials of my grandparents and of my parents. So I wanted to carry on the legacy with their blessings. And so both your grandparents and your parents have the same initials, initials. That's beautiful. Yeah. So in there, uh, I'll have the next question. You have been actively involved with your NGO feed a label liver for over 10 years. Correct. Right. I have two questions. What inspired you to start this initiative? And how has it impacted the labor community in Dubai? Um, it's, it's been a beautiful journey. Uh, I would also say quite a emotionally, uh, a challenging journey as well, as much as it satisfies me every single day of my life, but definitely has been emotionally, uh, uh, challenging too. It all started, uh, you know, by, by following the footsteps of my grandparents and then my parents. They always believed in giving back to, to the less fortunate. Uh, though we all came from a very humble beginning, uh, yet they, they never had the feeling of scarcity that, okay, they never ever felt that nor made us feel that way. All they kept saying was, no matter how much you make, there's always something can give back. So when they kept saying that, In my mind, it always felt that it is in relation to a monetary terms. Uh, but that was not their thought. Their thought was kindness comes in various forms, but definitely they were also doing a lot of charity. So when I got blessed with one job, I would feed one or two people as whatever I could afford to. And then when I grew, I started doing it more. And, uh, they, they would always tell me that there were, there were days where, you know, literally, uh, you don't have those glory days of, uh, having an open budget to spend in your teen days. So if you're gaining success at a very young age, which my parents did not see because back in the days, of course, they did not have that much. Uh, they always try to instill in the mind that if God is, you know, elevating your growth. make sure that you're able to give back even more. So that's how it kind of sparked, uh, in me that if I'm opening a company, how am I going to give it back to the, to the society of less fortunate? Now, being in Dubai, of course, uh, you know, uh, we, we, I would say we are technically blessed, uh, that everybody is well structured in terms of, of the labor community as well. So you won't find homeless people or people on the streets. Government has a certain structure where everybody is well taken care of. At the same time, that's, that's the lowest end of the community, uh, I could see. So I thought, why not that, you know, these are the guys who are working so hard to build this luxurious city and they need to be appreciated. Uh, hence, uh, you know, uh, we, we thought of giving back to, to the neighbor community. And the second part of the question in this, so how is it doing right now? Uh, what is the impact that you're seeing in the community? Oh, and now it's, it has been fabulous by the grace of, uh, God, uh, with the support of the government. Uh, it's, it's going fabulous. We are feeding about, I would say 3000 people every week. Uh, it's a very simple concept. We don't raise funds. We don't collect cash. Uh, what we need from the community is their time and we want them to be present at the site only to feel that what it is like when you are blessed and others are not and yes we have over 50 volunteers I would say average every week in all in all uh thousand thousand plus people have joined in we've served over 1. 7 million meals and it's 10 years and yeah we're still going Going and growing rather. And what are your future plans for feeder labor? Do you see the NGO evolving in, in, in a specific direction in the next few years? Oh, definitely. We, I do have a vision. Uh, we also have set up some goals. So now we are catering to about 3000 laborers per week. The target reach up to 10, 000. Uh, we're currently working on an application and also our AI website, which will be more easy to use and have volunteering management and many more features in it to, to bring in, uh, this community together. Uh, so, so the, so the vision is to, to grow. And be in every single part of the city, wherever you see construction, we want to be there. And would you be limited to Dubai or do you also plan to, uh, uh, extend this to other places? Because, uh, there's construction happening all over the world now. I think, uh, I would say 80 percent of the construction is happening in Dubai. So every, every, every week there's a new building coming up. So That will kind of fill in our plate for now. But, uh, yeah, we will see what happens after 10 years. But for now, our, our vision is locked in for, for Dubai because Dubai has given us so much, you know, and at the same time, Sorry. Uh, so one thing that I want to, uh, you know, point out and, um, for anybody who's watching this and, um, uh, we're going to be putting up the links to your, uh, Instagram handle, uh, on this video so that they can reach out to you and follow you and be inspired from you, from whatever that you're doing. In fact, that's how we came to know about the feeder labor campaign. Uh, we were very impressed with what you're doing and all the volunteers also. Who are actually coming forward, uh, and contributing to this, uh, in kind and, uh, effort, right? So I think that's, that's a phenomenal job. Uh, and, uh, if you want to support the feeder labor campaign, uh, you know, you'll have links for you to get there. Uh, and, um, Also, if you want to start something similar, right? So I think, uh, uh, Inder is focused on the Dubai, uh, you know, segment and, uh, but if you are inspired and you want to reach out to Inder and learn about how to set this up, maybe in other countries, in other cities, then I'm sure, uh, Inder, you will be able to give them some time. Oh, definitely. It's, it's the, the idea is, okay, we are currently doing in Dubai because I, I grew up here. And this gives me an easy access to go around and also make it more consistent. However, this can be done in any part of the world. If you're in India, Africa, U. S., U. K., wherever you are. Kindness doesn't come that you have to give thousands and thousands of dollars. Even if you buy a one McDonald meal to homeless in the U. K., U. S., India, wherever, that is also making a difference. So, You can be anywhere and still make a difference. And your grandparents words, you know, I'm not, they're resounding again and again in my ears that, you know, you don't need to have too much to be able to do something, you know, whatever little you have, you can make a difference with that. So that's a very big takeaway from what we have discussed. That's great. So, uh, in the next, I'll come to Dubai. You know, so, uh, my question is that what makes Dubai an attractive destination for real estate investment, especially for Indians and immigrants and how they can capitalize on the unique opportunities that are available in the market. Well, Dubai is now globally known. And, uh, as you are aware that it's one of the safest city in the world. Um, what I really like about Dubai is transparency. The other thing is with Dubai, it offers everything in one particular place. If you want mid segment, low segment, luxurious, ultra luxury, it caters to all sorts of lifestyles. Moreover, if you're sitting in any part of the world, buying a property is probably in that's 10, 10 to 15 minutes job. It's everything is so digitalized in the bias, you know, so it makes it a lot more easier for people. The return on investment here is definitely a lot more higher than many of the countries, uh, other countries in the world. Uh, I would say, you know, Dubai is, is a place where, you know, uh, his Highness he's a visionary. So definitely, you know, there won't be any complacency that, uh, the growth stops here. No, it's going to just go and go and go and go up. Definitely every market has its own ups and downs. We all have to go through that. But with these guys, they grow through it. So any investments made now or down the line, definitely a confidence is it's going to result in positive returns. So be it capital appreciation, or be it even your written on investment in terms of rental incomes. And of course, there's no tax. So whatever you put in, you take 100 percent back. You, you touched upon rental incomes and that was one of the questions. In fact, Raul and I, we were talking about it just the other day, uh, is the buy to rent segment, right? There's, there's a lot of, uh, people who have. Um, some money, uh, you know, saved. And of course, we all know, um, there's not much that a savings account or a fixed deposit gives you back these days. And then there's a, uh, then there's other investments like, uh, you know, the stock exchange and, um, you know, other, uh, avenues, which may be slightly more risky. Uh, so there's a, There is this old traditional Indian thinking is ki property mein toh paisa dupta you know, banta hi hai. And, you know, we, we all have this, uh, uh, thinking that we should all build some property, uh, maybe buy something and put it up on rent. Is that a trend that you are seeing in Dubai? And if yes, then how could somebody who's not in Dubai How can they get into something like this? Can they even get a loan to, to support those, uh, those purchases? And is it easy to put up a property on rent? Uh, and, and do you, do you help with any of these, uh, uh, these services? So answering to your first question is, uh, yes, there are a lot of, I mean, Indians are the number one buyers in Dubai. Two and a half hours flight and they're here. Uh, Yes, it is. It is very, very easy for people to invest, uh, and then, and then lease the property. Uh, do we help in, uh, leasing the property? No. I, so what, what I do as an individual, as a company is we are mainly into, uh, advisory, advisory. Uh, we advise people to how to manage their wealth in terms of real estate, managing portfolios, which means that we also help in creating intergenerational wealth. So planning three years, five years, 10 years plan. Uh, but definitely, yes, we do have connections and contacts where we can help them to, uh, get the properties. Do investors, uh, get loans for properties in Dubai? So if somebody who's not living in Dubai wants to buy a house in Dubai and place it on rent, uh, are they able to, um, you know, get a mortgage, uh, to, to support that purchase? Yes. Overseas client. Yes, they do get a particular percentage of a mortgage as overseas clients. And if you're based in Dubai, uh, if you've been here over six months and you have your proper documents in place for your first property, you get about 80%. So getting mortgages here is, is pretty easy as well as, as long as you have a clean record, as long as you have the balance amount of money to be paid. And of course, you know, the documents to prove that yes, you'll be able to pay the EMIs. That's great. So in the moving from property and real estate to the real wealth, which is your health, right? And as someone who has been following you on on Instagram for some time, I see you going out on jogs at four o'clock in the morning and, and, you know, talking a lot about maintaining good health and a healthy lifestyle. So have you always been like this? Did you, uh, have a realizing that, hey, I need to change my habits and become healthy and turn around my, uh, myself. Is there a story behind that? Because I've seen a lot of people either, you know, they're they're always healthy, or There is a, there's a moment in, in life when they say, okay, now it's the wake up time. So which, which category do you fall in? I fall in the later one, because that's what happened to me at a very young age. The, the, the focus was only on money. We all are so ambitious that money becomes a top priority. So we chase, chase, chase, and in the realm of chasing, We internally start developing diseases and then later on when we fall ill, we're like, why is this happening to me? So why? Because internally you've been developing that, but not knowing it, uh, you know, that you've been doing this because your focus is money. And when you're chasing that money and you're in the right race, you go through stress, right? You work day and night. So you kind of get imbalanced with your fitness. So, of course, uh, I've been into fitness, uh, of course, but I was never that, uh, health bound or very strict with my diet. Uh, I always felt that it's important to balance it out, not to have too much of junk food. Uh, you know, fitness should be balanced, work should be balanced, family should be balanced. But lately, as I'm growing older, as I'm 37, I've, I've realized that more focus into fitness is a lot more better for the long term. Though sometimes it gets a bit boring that every single day you need to count your proteins, the carbs, the calories, what you're burning, what you're eating. You know, definitely there are days where I want to eat burgers. Uh, I have to like, you know, stop my mind from not eating that. It's it's purely because today's, uh, how do you, how do I, how do I put it? It's like, uh, today's desires, uh, completed our tomorrow's devils, you know, so I have to stop those, uh, desires of unhealthy food just because I want to live healthier, longer. Of course, I don't know what's going to happen tomorrow, but I, I feel that, you know, slowly, slowly, slowly, uh, the, Internal illnesses one develops through stress through a non healthy life can, can be reversed. And the older you get, the, the, the slower the body works on you. So that's why I keep it as a priority that, you know, I'm disciplined. Uh, even when we are fit, when we're into fitness, it also keeps our mental wellbeing to, to a positive place. So if we want to achieve something in life. So, uh, this has to be, you know, well placed in order to think better and achieve the goals. So hence, I have to keep that on a, on a pilot. So Dubai is, is one of the most diverse, um, you know, cities and also, uh, the food capital. If I, if I may call it right, because there's so many cuisines, so many great restaurants, you name it and you have it and you have the best in class. Um, and then, um, you're now talking about living a healthy lifestyle and making these healthy choices. So, how do you motivate yourself and make sure that you're on the healthier side and and don't fall, um, you know, pray to all those, uh, uh, other, uh, attractive, uh, food items like Raul and I will fall for a chole bhature any day. I'm sorry. So I used to like that as well, but it has been a while. But it has been a while. So how do you stay away from all those temptations? So is there a, is there a secret hack that you have? Because a lot of people struggle with, uh, uh, with that motivation and self control. I mean, there's no secret hack to it. I, I do eat pizzas. I love pizzas. But that's only once a week. So that's like my cheat meal, but that only happens if I have completed my fitness goals and I want to reward myself. So I've told my mind that, okay, if you do a, B, C, D, E, you're going to get this. And if I don't achieve that, I don't, because that's my favorite food. I love it. So, but do you also do a, do you also do a portion control? Because somebody is going to think, Hey, I can, I can jog for an hour a day and then maybe go and eat a, a large or an XL pizza with all the stuffed crusts and everything that's loaded on top or do you, do you control your portion size? Uh, definitely. Uh, I don't go overboard, but because it's once a week, so I by the rule of let's say 90, 10, right? So 90% I'm on a healthier side, 10%. Uh, you know, with modulation, I'm on a junk side. Even when I had fitness coaches, they would always tell me that don't stop living your life. So I strongly believe that it's okay to have your KFCs and McDonald's, your pizzas and stuff. Definitely, you should be able to work out more than what you're consuming any of the junk foods. So I am not in the opinion that you should be on a strict diet and no junk food at all for your whole life. No, these are the things definitely we should taste. So I eat sweets, but again, my sugar content is only once a week, right? Um, so everything in moderation, I think plays, plays a fair role in your whole fitness journey. So I'm not against junk food, but yes, anything overdose will take control. Like if you consume a lot of sugar, the next day you feel lethargic. So it's just that everything in moderation, I think, uh, is good. So in there, let's talk about, uh, you know, balance in life. Now you have participated in around seven half marathons. Um, you know, I've heard you've explored the world's largest cave and even captain boats. So how do you balance your adventurous side with the demands of running a business? Oh, well, it came out of, uh, a very, very deep thought a few years ago. Uh, I had multiple businesses actually, and, um, I was still traveling, but my travels were never the real travels because I was always on calls if I'm in the U. S., if I'm in the U. K., in Europe. As I, as I was growing older, I realized that how much money is money. Definitely money is important. And people say that it's easier for someone to say because you've made it all. No, it's, it's just about how you utilize the money you've earned. So back in the days, I would feel that, you know, earning a lot of money, I would buy a lot of materialistic things like brands, which would cost tens and tens of thousands of dollars. But that was to show the other person that, hey, listen, look, I'm wealthy. Look what I'm wearing. But when the perception changed, it became more about me and not about me. So having said that, I reduced the, the business to quality over quantity, which, which in the last three, four years, we've incorporated a lot of systems in terms of automations, which also delegations within the team. And that gave me a lot of freedom to, to travel. openly. I could go in a cave. My phone has been switched off for five days. Not a problem at all. So yes, it definitely took a lot of time to understand that. How am I going to do this? And what do I really want in life? So when I figured that out, then I had to change the whole business model. So people were saying that, Oh, you know, you could still do multiple companies. It's a great profile. But I said, profile sounds fabulous, but who am I here to impress? Myself, world. End of the day, when we earn, it's for ourselves. It's our life, what we do with ourselves, right? So with that mindset, I decided to close those two companies and continue with one only on quality, put systems in place, delegations, and then find time. And with that time, I travel a lot. That's, that sounds fun. And, uh, I believe you're traveling next week to Kazakhstan. You want to tell us a little bit more about what you're doing and how you prepared for that trip? Oh, sure. Um, so it's the, I think Central Asia's largest, uh, race taking place. Uh, it's in Almaty, Kazakhstan, and I'm doing a 42 kilometer, uh, uh, marathon 42. 2. I've been training for this for almost about, uh, three and a half, four months. And there were days, uh, there was a particular day where I decided, you know what? Enough. I'm, I'm, I'm going through insomnia. I've got a knee pain. I've got shoulder pain, back pain. I don't want to do this. And the same thing in front happened to me last year. And I canceled my plan. So what happened to me this year, I, I, I went through a self reflection and I had a chat with my mentor and he said that, okay, so the problem persists. Now you have two options. Either you quit or you find a solution. So I said, okay, I will find a solution to it. So I got in touch with a nutritionist. who, you know, would plan a proper meal for me for the whole month. And with the right amount of food, with the right amount of nutrition, uh, proper stretches, proper, uh, gym trainers, every pain went away. So my training became a lot more smoother. And yeah, I think it's just one more week to go and, uh, I'll be in the list. Thank you. All the best. And I think it's going to be a drastic change of weather as well, right? Going from Dubai to. Is it going to be cold now? Oh yeah, so Dubai, we've been training at 49 degrees, 48 degrees with one of the highest, uh, humidity. And Almaty will be about 3 to 4 degrees. So very different, very dramatically, uh, you know, different in terms of But a lot more heat there because here the heat is That's great. Yeah, all the best for that marathon. We're going to be cheering for you on the sides. Of course, uh, uh, Raul and I don't run marathons at this point, but, uh, having heard everything that you've said, uh, um, is truly inspiring. Uh, we, we love, uh, Uh, your focus over, uh, you know, on quality versus quantity. So I think that's a good takeaway, uh, we must all do and, and trying to get that, uh, healthy balance between, uh, your aspirations and your, uh, uh, you know, the importance of, uh, good health, right? So I think there's, there's a really good balance that is required. And it is important that we discuss this, uh, because, um, every day we see a lot of people going through. Uh, this stress, uh, which is leading to bad health, which is leading to You know, a lot of, uh, uh, medical issues, right? Um, so, uh, it is important that, uh, you spoke about this and you shared how you, you're balancing this and the wonderful work that you're doing, uh, through the feed a labor campaign, right? So, uh, I think that's the start of the show. Uh, the, the, uh, the NGO that you've built up, uh, it is, um, it is inspiring. to be giving when a lot of people are thinking about getting right. Um, so that is also, uh, an important message and, uh, I would thank, uh, your grandparents and your parents for, uh, the values that they have imbibed in, in you and, and they've challenged you, uh, in the right way. So, uh, thank you so much, uh, for appearing on the show in there. Uh, we are really delighted to have this conversation. And we wish you all the best for your marathon and, uh, for the greater success of the feeder labor campaign. Thank you very much, uh, for having me here and thank you very much for the kind words. And, and I'm really happy that, uh, you know, we're having this conversation and that, uh, this will be put out there, uh, for those who are probably in the same journey, uh, I am in. So thank you very much for covering this. Thank you so much. I'm not a transcriber. I'm not a translator. I'm not a translator. I'm not a translator.