COMMUNITY MAN

When BU was still relatively new to Los Angeles, he got involved in the Indian American community activities in a big way. He was one of those who saw the importance in establishing the Sanatan Dharam Temple in Little India in the heart of Los Angeles. He’s one of those who initiated the setting up of the Asian American Hotel Owners Association (AAHOA), a pioneering organization that today has well over 10,000 members and is the largest of its kind in the world. AAHOA members own almost one in every two hotels in the United States, have property assets worth billions of dollars, and employ hundreds of thousands of employees.

BU, the agreeable patriarch of a large family that now has its third generation in the United States, is a model for those who start out with very little, but do not see that as a handicap, ever. As the bestselling American author Tommy Newberry says, if you want to lead an extraordinary life, find out what the ordinary do—and don’t do it. In the case of the extraordinarily successful B.U. Patel, founder of the Tarsadia empire, little else could be truer.

Box: Just as big as his desire to do something for the community has been his feelings for his extended family. Unlike many who forget relatives after making it big, BU has pulled in as many as 80 members of his larger family into his scope of operations, a sign of a man that truly has a big heart and wants to give his near and dear ones a chance to grow as well