Rich is what you give away

I have met many wealthy people. Only a few of them seemed rich to me.

The difference, as far as I can tell, has little to do with money. The rich ones were the people whose wealth flowed outward: into schools, hospitals, villages, other people's futures. The others were mostly guarding what they had.

The man I look up to

My role model has always been Ratan Tata. Not for the size of what he built, though that was extraordinary, but for the way he carried it. He lived without show, spoke without arrogance, and made sure that most of what his companies earned went back to the country through the trusts that owned them.

I am nowhere near that scale and never will be. But the principle does not need scale. It only needs a decision.

A simple life

I live simply, and I intend to keep it that way. That is not a sacrifice. It is a freedom. A person who needs very little can afford to give a great deal.

My pledge

I have pledged to give the greater part of my wealth to charity. I say it publicly so that I am held to it.

Today that work runs mainly through the Man-mohana Charitable Trust for Underprivileged Girls and Children, which supports 200 girls, and through the care of about 125 animals. I explain why our numbers must keep doubling in 200, 400, 800.

Naman Manmohan Agrawal