To say you own one apartment in the world's
tallest building would be impressive. But to
say you own 22, now that would just be hard
to believe right?
Well believe it! Indian businessman George V.
Nereaparambil is the very man who owns
more than his fair share of the 900
apartments in the Burj Khalifa. He is thought
to be one of the largest private owners within
the building, but he says he's not stopping at
22.
"If I get a good deal, I'll buy more. I am a
dreamer and I never stop dreaming," he tells
Khaleej Times from one of his 49th floor
apartments in the iconic Dubai landmark.
With lavish gold decor covering the walls,
floors and ceilings, the apartment is a good
match for George himself.
Sharply dressed in a silver-toned suit with
bright white shoes, he is every bit the
successful businessman he portrays:
Passionate, hardworking, but humble down to
his core. George's impressive property resume
all came about when a friend teased him
about the 828-metre building.
"A relative of mine jokingly told me: See this
Burj Khalifa, you cannot enter it."
But George did more than enter it. After
seeing an advertisement in a newspaper about
an apartment for rent in the building, the
Kerala-born businessman got straight on the
phone.
"That very same day, I rented the apartment,
and the next day I was living in it. That was in
2010."
Now, six years on with 22 apartments under
his belt, he said five are rented, and as for the
rest, he's "waiting for the right tenant".
George
first touched down in Sharjah back in 1976.
The visit marked his first trip outside of India,
but the expat was far from a naïve newcomer.
After realising there was huge scope for an air
conditioning business in the hot climate of the
desert, the mechanic-turned-businessman
went about setting up the beginnings of his
now mini empire, GEO Group of Companies.
But this wasn't his first taste of life as a
businessman.
At the age of 11, George would regularly help
his father trade cash crops.
Tasked with the job of transporting the
materials to the market and bargaining with
the traders, he juggled all this while still at
school. With a taste for independent trading,
the then young boy set up his own little side
business too, making money from waste.
"People in my hometown used to trade cotton,
but they'd throw away the cotton seeds. Not
many people knew at that time that you could
make gum from those seeds."
Sifting through the dirt and sand to gather up
the disregarded seeds, George said he'd often
make a "90 per cent profit selling them on".
"I'd do the same with tamarind seeds too. I'd
sell the empty shells on as cattle feed."
A true rags to riches story, George has not let
his success get to his head - nor the fact that
he owns a huge chunk of one of the world's
most popular landmarks. For me, learning is
the biggest wealth.
I continue to learn every
day, this is my biggest success. People should
dream, people should learn, and then people
will achieve."
From as young as 11, George has been a
champion of utilising waste.
His next big plan is to build a canal from
Trivandrum to Kasarakod, and he's inviting
others to step forward and help make his
dream a reality.
"This canal will give back to nature. Whatever
water will come from the forest nearby, we will
produce electricity from it.
We will also use
the water to cultivate vegetables, and I plan to
section off a small part of it so that
fisherman can cultivate fish. We will also use
the slurry as fertiliser.
"My hobby is to buy
land and I want to make use of every single
part of that canal."
Source: Khaleej Times
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