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By Annan Boodram |
New York, July 2002: "I am where I think I would have wanted to be, were I to go back twenty years and look forward
to
the future". These words of Jai Sharma sums up his life
at this stage. But where is he really?Sharma is a real estate magnate - owner of Service First Realty (a Coldwell Banker franchise) on Jamaica Avenue in Queens. His office has 13 agents, including his wife Victoria.
"We can make a lot more money if we engage in some of the practices that others do," said Sharma. But "we have a strict pre-qualification procedure" and "we don't sell houses to people who can't afford them".
Sharma came to the United States from Guyana in 1986. At the time he was Caribbean and Central America marketing analyst for EXXON, known in the Caribbean as ESSO. Deciding to remain in the US, he worked in accountancy for nine years but then abruptly quit after he was held at gunpoint and robbed of $55,000 that he had withdrawn from a bank to facilitate a payroll payout.
"I was driving down Liberty Avenue when I met Ed Ahmad, who had been a neighbor back home".
Ahmad persuaded him to get into real estate and in the first ten months he sold 51 houses, ending up as runner up rookie of the year. Subsequently he moved to Jamaica Avenue and opened up his own business.
"90% of my business is through referrals," he disclosed, emphasizing that he has built a reputation for being ethical and principled.
He indicated that he is aware of only two foreclosures since he started his business 1998.
On June 21, Sharma was among a number of outstanding Caribbean business owners who were honored by The Caribbean Voice newspaper for their outstanding achievements. The occasion was the first ever reception to mark CARICOM Day in New Yortk City.
From Meter Meer Zorg in Guyana, Sharma worked a number of different jobs after finishing high school, before leaving for England, where he obtained a BA in Accountancy from the London School of Accountancy. Returning to Guyana in 1984 he worked for about a year at GAIBANK before joining ESSO.
From a family of 10 - he has six brothers and two sisters - Sharma's father is Pandit Loknauth Sharma, who was General Secretary of the Guyana Pandits' Council in the seventies and eighties. His father currently resides in Canada along with the rest of Sharma's brothers and sisters.
Reflecting on his life, Sharma said, "America has been good to me. I have six wonderful kids and a wonderful wife"
His wife Victoria is American born. His children- five boys and one girl - range in ages from 14 to three, the last two being twins.