Those who have heard about Rajesh Tarkar know him as a Krishna Bhakt and a good Speaker besides being a successful businessman and a reputed builder in the state of Goa, but what many don’t know is how he carved his way through the difficult path and reached to the stage where he is today. Most people would give up in the face of adversity, but Rajesh had unconditional faith in Lord Krishna and his belief in Karma made him the man he is today. This story is about the person who builds homes with his heart and soul and at the same time teaches people about the importance of Karma through the focal point of Krishna.
I have known Rajesh Tarkar for quite some time now and the first time I met him in his office in Panaji I saw the positive energy emitting from his personality after talking to him for some time I realised that this is the result of his strong faith in Krishna and Karma. Today Rajesh owns a huge office at Goa’s premium business destination Patto with a staff of over 300 working under his able guidance.
Born in a small island village called ‘Akhada’ in a middle-class family where his father used to work on a barge and also run a small bakery, while his mother was a helping hand to his Father in the bakery. Rajesh is the youngest in the family and loved to play Gumat during Chaturthi with full enthusiasm. After matriculation and being influenced by doing something of his own by setting up his own business he pursued a course in electronics specializing in TV repairing. But his Father persuaded him to do a job in The Goa State Co-operative Bank in Marcel as a sub–staff. Rajesh was always keen on learning new things in order to climb the ladder of success and was very hardworking and sincere in his duties. While working as a sub-staff he completed his 12th std and was soon promoted as the Clerk cum cashier in the same Bank. During this period he was learning Drums and Pakhwaj and also played in Orchestra and Temples. Rajesh admits he was a real multitasker and all these things were running parallel without disturbing anything. “I always loved music and after working as a drummer for Seven Star Orchestra for more than a decade, 12 years to be specific, I developed an interest in singing and went to learn Classical Vocal,” he said.
The Life Partner
Rajesh Tarkar’s journey is like the journey of a hero of the film. All the incidents that took place in his life, his struggle, his passion, his dedication, his multitasking, the ability to come out as a winner in the end climbing the ladder of success, everything will connect you with film stories. Rajesh Tarkar’s love story is also very filmy. According to Rajesh, he met his wife Deepa on the Orchestra stage where she used to sing while he was playing drums.
“My wife Deepa was a famous singer from Goa. She has done many performances for Orchestra, Competitions, State television, Zee TV & EL T.V. We met here on this platform where I was playing drums and she was singing. We became friends, instantly fell in love, and got married in 2003,” said Rajesh. That’s how the business name came into existence, ‘Raj’ from Rajesh & ‘Deep’ from Deepa « Rajdeep »
The Hustle
As I said, Rajesh Tarkar is a hustler and he will not stop until he achieves what he wants and his actions from time to time have already proved that. There is a thin line between becoming the winner or loser and Rajesh always came out the winner in the end. He did not stop when he got the job in the bank, he did not compromise with his dreams and always pursued them with complete dedication and determination. He was determined to be a business tycoon in Goa and his journey was the proof of it.
While working in the bank whereby now he had his hands on all the Banking jobs from daily entries to the Balance sheets. But that was not the end. He continued his education to get on a higher post. He worked hard and completed his BBA. His hard work again bore the fruit of Promotion & within a span of mere 14 years, Rajesh Tarkar became the youngest Branch Manager of the Bank. He always wanted to go higher, he had big dreams and big success comes with big sacrifices. Working in the bank forever was not his cup of tea and hence he started doing network marketing.
The Struggle
There is a saying that talent and determination do not remain hidden. However, if you try to suppress them they will shine through in the end spreading the light. Something similar happened in Rajesh Tarkar’s case. Rajesh was always a hustler, very intelligent, talented hard-working, and sincere.
“After my office hours, that used to get over by 5.30 p.m., I would get engaged into the network marketing,” he said adding that he never wanted to live the typical life that everyone else does, come home from work and watch TV or read the newspaper, “Instead when I came back home, I would engage in tasks that would be more productive and keep me busy. I would do riyaz (singing practice), or go for the programs (Orchestra) or go to sell products (Network Marketing and Insurance policies) and this way make good use of my time and walk towards achieving the dreams every day.”
The Stepping Stone
Life always presents challenges before you and how you take them up is what decides your destiny. Rajesh Tarkar was overburdened with a loan of 12 lakhs but he did not give up. Instead, he decided to fight the battle of his difficult times & work very hard to repay the loan. While working at The Goa State Co-Operative Bank, after office hours Rajesh got involved in selling & promoting Swadeshi Products under the brand of ‘Swadeshi’ Marketing. The network marketing then introduced the insurance products and that exposed Rajesh to the Insurance industry which was just coming up. Initially, he used to sell the Insurance for Bajaj Allianz Life Insurance Company under the networking Brand ‘Swadeshi’, and being a people person with sound marketing skills and leadership, in a very short span of time he became the leader in the market by selling a huge number of policies. In course of time, he learned the limitations of his job and resigned from the Managerial post of The Goa state Co. Bank & dedicated himself to Swadeshi Marketing. Later, Bajaj Allianz offered him a job as a Regional manager with a big fat salary. While this was happening he was also approached by the State Bank of India to handle their insurance product.
“SBI was aware of my achievements in Bajaj and they approached me with a job offer, but there was one catch. They offered me 25 thousand salaries while Bajaj was offering me 60 thousand. Here making the right decision was very crucial. I had to decide between big salary and big brand and I came to the conclusion that the difference could always be made up in the incentives and decided to join the SBI Life Insurance Co. ” he narrated.
Loan Free Flamboyant Life
Rajesh started as a Unit Manager in SBI Life and got promoted to becoming a Territory Manager within a short span of 2 years. He was felicitated with many trophies and accolades mainly for achieving the no. 1 position for continuous 5 years in the West-I region i.e. Maharashtra & Goa in SBI Life. Rajesh Tarkar was known as the Top Manager in the field of Insurance. “It just did not give me a good opportunity but a loan-free life. While working at SBI Life I paid back my loan of 12 Lakhs, which was a huge amount during that time. I sold my single bedroom flat and bought a duplex bungalow. Then I bought a luxurious Audi and my life was completely changed. But while this was happening one thing I realized is that I started working tirelessly to pay off my loans and I worked so hard that I got into the habit of working all the time. My wife calls me workaholic,” Tarkar laughed. “Things changed so drastically that now I started helping others financially,” said Rajesh. Adding that once he was burdened with the loans and now, he started giving loans to the needy people. “While I had not become a Builder & still working for SBI Life, yet, I had enough money to live the luxurious life, going on international tours, living in five-star properties. My life already became flamboyant while I was working in SBI Life.
The Turning Point
In life, everyone comes across the point that changes your entire life and that turning point came into the life of Rajesh Tarkar which became the stepping stone in his becoming the Real Estate Mogul of Goa. This is a very interesting story. According to Rajesh, while he was living in the duplex, he purchased a piece of land in Taleigao, which was still underdeveloped during those days. “I wanted to build my own bungalow on this piece of land but later on my decision was influenced by my close friends who suggested to me that it’s not a good idea to build a bungalow in such an underdeveloped area while I had already acquired a certain amount of financial and social status,” said Rajesh adding that one of his friends suggested him to construct 4 flats on the land and sell them. “I had money and decided to go ahead with the idea of building apartments and selling them and due to my passion for doing the interiors. I finally sold those 4 apartments fully furnished.” After selling the fully furnished apartments in his own first accidental project Rajesh became famous overnight and people started coming searching for him in the State Bank to ask him about his second project and the rest is history.
On A New Journey
Rajesh made whopping 2 crore profits in his first project and needless to say that he realized the potential and existence of power in the real estate industry. Secondly, the prospective customers started coming to him asking for his new project and during that time he received the offer of an approved project of 10 apartments and he agreed to sell the whole project, with an approved plan and land for 1.5 crores.
“I had 2 crores in my bank and decided to grab the opportunity. Selling the apartment was not a difficult task for me since I already had people coming to me asking for the new projects and some of my customers from SBI insurance also approached me for the apartments and within 6 months time I sold the entire project,” said Rajesh adding that by the time these new developments took place, the insurance business at SBI reached to my saturation point and there was no scope left to excel within Goa. “I reached the post of Territory Manager and the next step was the promotion of Area Sales Manager and that meant leaving my hometown which I was not willing to do. The second thing that I realized was that I made 5 crores in just one project and the top India-level executive in the insurance business was not making more than 15 crores per year here I decided to leave SBI Insurance and started my own business.”
When Rajesh decided to start his own business, it was a well-planned decision and he was aware of what he was doing. He had enough money to try his hand in the business and feed his family for the next two years in case of any setbacks. “I purchased another plot in Taleigao for 1 crore, built apartments, and sold them all in one year’s time,” he said, adding that things started changing and he started receiving the offer for the JV (Joint Ventures). “In JV the basic advantage is you don’t have to invest money in the land and whatever money that you have takes care of constructions and this became the life-changing move and from there on I did not look back.”
5 Years Warranty & 25 Years Maintenance
Rajesh Tarkar became the sole Real estate developer in the state of Goa who provided fully furnished apartments with 5 years warranty and 25 years of maintenance. According to Rajesh product quality and durability counts the most and the trust the customers keep in you matters a lot. “I have learned a business Mantra in my life and that is, ‘In everything, do to others what you would have them do to you and that made me come up with the idea of a 5 years warranty and 25 years of a maintenance plan in all my projects,” said Rajesh sharing one of his experience that made him think on the importance of maintenance and warranty. “I remembered the time when I was bankrupt and had purchased a single bedroom apartment on loan and the next day the wash basin collapsed, I had nowhere to go and there was no maintenance or warranty from the builder and when I became the builder I decided that this day should not be faced by my customer and decided to start the 5 years warranty and 25 years maintenance service.”
Rajdeep Maintenance Services
5 years of warranty and 25 years of maintenance that started specifically for the Rajdeep Projects did not remain limited to the Rajdeep alone and Rajesh decided to take it beyond his projects and provide similar services to other projects existing in Goa. “I thought why not provide this service to everyone especially when people appreciate the initiative and demand for the same to others. Therefore, we launched the company Rajdeep Maintenance Services on 2nd April 2022 and at present, we provide our services within the radius of 20 km of Panaji and soon we have plans of going pan India with this service,” said Rajesh. The enrollment for the 25 years of maintenance that started with the customers of Rajdeep Builders is now made open to anyone who desires to be a part of it.
The Big Dream
Just like everyone, Rajesh Tarkar also has some unfulfilled dreams and one of them is creating minimum 1000 employment on board on the payroll of Rajdeep. “Today we have 300 employees but I want to see the day when Rajdeep will have minimum1000 employees on the payroll,” said Rajesh adding he started with a payroll of Rs. 12000/- per month that has now reached to the tune of 28 lakhs rupees per month. “The day I will have 1000 employees and 1 crore monthly payroll that will be the day I will feel that I have achieved real success.”
The Krishna Bhakt
Besides being a very successful businessman Rajesh has one more identity and that is “Krishna Bhakt”. Rajesh strongly believes in the teachings of Lord Krishna. The concept ‘ Believe in Karma & do it every day’ is strictly followed by Mr. Rajesh Tarkar. “I believe that whatever I have today is the result of my Karma and as Lord Krishna Says “Do your Karma and rest will follow. Rajesh also says that Spirituality is to be followed from Childhood. By the following spirituality, we become strong from within and can enjoy our work whether it is a household, office, or profession. It helps us to stay positive in every situation and live a stressless happy life.
He further says, “I do not believe in making Properties & keeping a huge Bank balance for my Children Arya & Armaan. “I want to do the Karma, I want to serve the society, I want to donate funds for education and betterment of the society. I want to sponsor the students, sponsor the schools and also help the needy. When asked from where do you get this energy Mr. Tarkar says, “this energy comes into me from the power of spirituality, the path of Krishna that I follow always takes me in the right direction. My idol is Shri Ratan Tata. Just like him, I want to work for the betterment of society and charity,” he concluded.
