Video: From sharing a room to a flat in Burj Khalifa: Dubai entrepreneur Riaz Lodi shares his dreams with Gulf Today

Niloufar Saleem, Staff Reporter

Dubai is filled with skyscrapers and its jaw-dropping skyline is a beauty by itself.

Standing in the tallest tower in the world is a simple man but a passionate entrepreneur, Riaz Lodi.

Lodi dreamt of reaching the skies, and somehow has, similar to the country`s impeccably made tower the Burj Khalifa.

While people from all around the world flock to the UAE and busy their schedules with tours and pictures with the various renowned landmarks, Lodi was one unique man who stepped into this beautiful country, looked up at the tallest building in the world, fell in love with its magnanimous construction and wanted to reach there.

To humble beginnings

Riaz Lodi started off from another emirate of the UAE, Ras Al Khaimah.

He had some relatives who helped him stay with them when he walked in from India carrying nothing but a baggage filled with dreams.

His aim was to reach Dubai and somehow he struggled his way out and managed to stay with a couple of friends in a sharing apartment in Dubai.

His short-term goals were planned to perfection and very soon, he started climbing the ladder of success.

The Burj Khalifa

After a few years of struggling and making ends meet, Lodi today is a resident of the tallest building in the world.

He considers Dubai as a gold mine. He says Dubai is filled with tremendous opportunities and possibilities.

All you need to do is to adapt. 

The driving force

As Lodi toured us around his comfortable apartment, we asked him about his driving force to get there.

He very passionately looked at the picture of His Highness Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, vice president and prime minister of the United Arab Emirates, and ruler of the Emirate of Dubai, that he has framed in his apartment and says `He is my driving force and my biggest inspiration.`

Lodi cannot get over the overwhelming fact of how Sheikh Mohammed managed to plan and execute building the Burj Khalifa in the UAE. The tallest standing tower in the world till date.

He goes on to say that Sheikh Mohammed must have faced so many rejections and criticisms and he still went ahead and fulfilled his dreams by not letting any of the negativity affect his achievements and goals, and if that is not inspiring what is?  And we absolutely agree.

Lodi is a lover of anything unique.

A loyal resident

Lodi`s heart is filled with absolute awe for the country and a lot of gratitude for the opportunities it has given him.

He cannot stop praising the Rulers, their vision and their goals to have made this country the epitome of beauty it is today.

He feels responsible to make sure rules are followed and the environment is kept clean always.

A unique way

Lodi is a lover of anything unique. He says if there`s anything in the world that is unique then it`s definitely precious and everyone would want it.

Similarly, all his business proposals and ideas are one of their kinds. Lodi is working to bring in fully transparent solar facade glass.

These facade glass will be installed in buildings that will use heat and solar energy to drive chiller in district cooling stations. The idea is to make every building in the UAE a power plant, by using the waste heat from the surrounding areas and factories.

He brings in some very unique ideas that make people want to own what he sells. Be it technology, solar power usage, or anything else, he always has ideas that we have never heard before.

From the very beginning, that was his USP.

On a lighter note

On a lighter note, Lodi is friends with various celebrities who appreciate his loyal nature and his humbleness, which is his natural quality that lifts him higher.

Possessing rare qualities of a successful person Lodi is someone with an open heart and a giving nature.

His generosity reflects in his words, actions and behaviour.

An inspiration to many others who walk in to the UAE with dreams and aspirations, Lodi makes us realise how important it is to focus and aim for nothing less than the sky.

Don’t lose focus from your dreams, for the ones who laugh at you, he says, will one day laugh with you.