You might remember him as the man who loved the arts and  the movies or you might know him as the successful entrepreneur who climbed to  the top in a short period of time. To all those who knew him, Prashant Fadia  was a very passionate and committed human  being, who had a vision for what he wanted to do with his life, right from an  early age. He achieved a lot in his short but meaningful life. Although he had  many dreams still left to be fulfilled, he had sowed the seeds to help it grow  on its own. A passionate lover of the arts, he enjoyed Hindustani and  western classical music, movies, art, and nature.  He loved entertaining  and was most happy in the midst of family and friends.

Say Desh and Jaishree Deshpande,  close friends of Prashant: “We had some of our most fun moments with Prashant.  He was a man who truly practiced Vedanta.  Even though he knew the  inevitable end of his life, he never let that get in the way of brightening up  other people's lives until the last breath.  We had seen a character like  that in the movie ANAND, where Rajesh Khanna did a fabulous job of acting the  role. We are proud to remember Prashant as a close friend who actually lived it”.

Saluni Fadia along with her daughter Aisshu and their extended family’s  fervent wish on her husband’s fifth  death anniversary is to pay him a tribute  through this life and works in this column.

 We  still MISS you, dear Prashant!!!

The Entreprenuer: Climbing to the Top
    Prashant H. Fadia was the CEO & founder of Abacus Software Group, Inc  and founder of Sierra Systems Asia Pvt. Ltd., SEEPZ, Mumbai. Born in  Manchester, England on January 10, 1953 he was the son of Harivadan S. and  Hasmukh H. (Sukhadia) Fadia. Raised in India, Prashant graduated in 1977 with  an Electrical Engineering degree from Victoria Jubilee Technology Institute,  Mumbai.

He came to the US in 1981 to do his Masters and started his company Abacus Software  soon after in California. In 1995 he moved to Massachusetts opening a SAP  consultancy as part of Abacus.  At this time,  Abacus with a growth rate of 6838% in 1999 was ranked the 11th fastest growing  private company of America by Inc500 and was ranked the 32nd fastest growing  private company of America in 1998 with a growth rate of 4827%. Two years in  row (1998 & 1999) Abacus was ranked amongst Deloitte & Touche’s  Technology Fast 50, New England’s fastest growing technology companies.

Awards and Honors:

Under Prashant  Fadia’s leadership Abacus Software Group received several awards. It had been  nominated as “One of the world’s 100 pioneering leading technology companies  that are on the forefront of knowledge economy” by World Economic Forum, Davos,  Switzerland in January 2000.

 Breaking Thresholds:
In addition to being a successful entrepreneur Fadia was a Philanthropist  who strongly believed in giving back to the community. Along  with his wife Saluni Fadia whom he married in 2000, he expanded his horizons to  causes he believed in.   

 He was on the Board of Trustees &  Overseers of the “Peabody Essex Museum”, Salem, Massachusetts. He was an  overseer on the board of “Museum of Science”, Boston, MA. He was an Executive  Committee Member of TEN - Technology Empowerment Network, a World Economic  Forum (Davos, Switzerland) Initiative. He was the Co-Chairman for Charter  Membership Committee of TiE. His best endeavor was as Founder & Director of  the Prashant H Fadia Foundation, Inc., MA a charitable foundation established  in 1998 whose mission is to support art,technology,  health and environment.

To be continued.....in the next issue