Surender Kandhari was born in a well-to-do business family that dealt in rubber tyres in Vijayawada and Hyderabad in India. A gentle child, he grew into a gentle adult with no lack of privilege or material deprivation. None of this spoilt him, and he knew that he was destined to succeed. God-fearing as a child, his first real vacation was not to Hong Kong or to some hill resort or a stayover by the sea, but a pilgrimage to the famous Gurudwaras in India, the houses of worship for those of the Sikh religion.

It was on a bright, sunny morning that his grandfather, a towering personality, told him to make a commitment. He said, ‘One day you have to build a Gurudwara, that is my prayer and my wish, make me that promise.’

And in that moment began the saga of The Temple of My Dreams.

The sincerity that marks Surender Kandhari’s life and his efforts to stretch out a helping hand are best reflected in the major endeavour he undertook to build a magnificent Gurudwara in the emirate of Dubai and create a zone of peace and comfort for everyone regardless of their persuasions.

Surender’s life has been exemplary, but he has faced doubt, crisis and occasional moments of despair where the saving grace has always been his belief that out of good comes good and that being there for those in need is an order from above that must be obeyed.

Against that background, he injects into his narrative humour, a delightful self-deprecating manner in which the rough and the smooth patches intermingle into one entity. His affection for his friends whom he greatly values, his compassion for those who call upon him and above all his love for family and his rock, his wife, Bubbles, combine to create a riveting story of man whose work ethic make him a very special individual.

Life, he says, is a game of golf. It is the closest game to life. As golfer Bobby Jones said, ‘You get bad breaks from good shots and good shots from bad breaks. But you have to play the ball where it lies.’

This book does just that.

The Temple of My Dreams has four major strands. It stands as testament to the creation and development of an industrial empire that now employs more than 2,000 people, gives one an inside look into the tyre and battery industry on a global scale and provides signposts to young entrepreneurs on how to set up their businesses. The book is also a personal account of an extraordinary life and how these factors are bound together by the inspiration derived from construction of the Guru Nanak Sahib Gurudwara in Dubai and how this incredible house of worship was conceived and turned into reality, that being the core basis for the title of the book.