Manu Chandaria: My wife said she wanted a Rolls-Royce so I shipped one from South Africa

According to the tycoon, a Mrs. Chandaria could not agree to any other make despite efforts to coax her into settling for a brand with a local dealership.

“One time she said ‘I want a Rolls Royce’ and I said, come on, there is no Rolls-Royce in this country! The best we can do is Mercedes-Benz,” Mr. Chandaria told comedian Churchill in a Sunday interview.

“We have two Mercedes-Benzes here but she said ‘Well, Rolls-Royce’.”

Seeing that he could not win the persuasion, Mr. Chandaria says that the couple then resorted to enlisting the help of their then South Africa-based nephew.

“Our nephew used to live in South Africa and we told him if he finds any Rolls-Royce, let's buy it. So he found one and sent it one day,” said the tycoon.

Mrs. Chandaria says although she was happy about the deluxe British machine, she hardly uses it now. 

“Six-seven years now and we hardly use it,” she said, adding that the few times she has, she was chauffeured because of old age.

Chandaria, 92, has been married to Aruna for over 67 years. According to the business magnate, it has taken mutual understanding to sustain a healthy marriage.

“The best thing is to understand each other and accept each other because there are always shortcomings from everybody,” he said.

He describes her as the person responsible for the man he is today, hailing her as “more giver than taker.”

“She is a great, great partner, she is more giver than taker and to get women to give… it’s more taking. She has made me my life, I could have been an ordinary man in Biashara Street,” Chandaria said.

The renown businessman and philanthropist never misses any chance to gush about his wife. In a previous interview, he showed off a beautiful tapestry Aruna made, for more than a year, as her gift to him on his fiftieth birthday.

While Aruna said she was struck by his good looks when the two met, Chandaria joked that she probably just fancied his colourful shirts. 

"He used to wear shirts with large prints which he brought from America," she said at the time.