After completing his Mechanical Engineering in the year 1989, he wanted to do MBA from reputed University of USA. In the era of Eighties GMAT/ TOEFL were unheard of, but this promising young Engineer cleared the exams and got admission letter from 4 Top notch Universities of USA but despite of many efforts he could not get the VISA and his dream of doing MBA shattered. He then started looking for Jobs and got few offers from reputed companies. But there was something different in his destiny, his maternal Uncle Mr Anand Rathi asked him to join Stock Market and his fascination for Mumbai brought him to this City in the year 1990. After that, there was no looing back for this immensely talented Engineer to achieve astronomical heights in Stock and Financial Markets. The protagonist of this edition of MBM Story is Er. Lalit Mundra, Director at Suresh Rathi Securities Pvt Ltd, Mumbai. In his career spanning 32 years, Er. Mundra has gained enormous experience in various aspects of Stock Broking business. He has a rich knowledge on Capital Market and handling retail as well as high net worth investors. His organisational experience includes working from 1990 -97 as Operations Head at Suresh Rathi & Co., from 1997 till date, Director at Suresh Rathi Securities Pvt Ltd. Er. Lalit Mundra , has been instrumental in establishing network of retail outlets of 125+ offices, spread across 25 cities catering to 40000+ investors.  

School Days :

Born in Jodhpur on 3 rd December 1968, Lalit completed his KG in United States of America as his father late Dr. Kushal Chandra Mundra ( Dean, Department of Economics, Jodhpur University ) was posted in USA for brief tenure. He completed his further studies from Mahesh Children School and Hanwant Higher Secondary School, Jodhpur. It is a saying that there is always a woman behind success of  man and here is his mother Dr Phoolkaur Mundra (Retired Professor, Somani College of Commerce, Jodhpur). His mother was instrumental in shaping Lalit’s career from school days. Since childhood, Lalit was innovative and curious about new things and he made his mind to become an Engineer in class 8 th. In class X th and XI th Board examination, Lalit got distinction marks and was amongst top 100 students in Rajasthan. He got certificate of appreciation for this achievement.

MBM days :

First step towards fulfilment of his dream to become an Engineer was achieved when Lalit got admission in prestigious MBM Engineering College in Mechanical Engineering in the year 1984 based on his ranking in Pre- Engineering Test. ” Apart from the academics, I was quite engaged in extra-curricular activities. I was the part of the Mechanical Engineering student’s group that started MechFest, a student-run cultural event that dramatically assisted the students to realize their potential and explore their hidden talents. Mechfest was much sought after event by students. During our college days, the biggest fear of the students used to be public speaking. I connected with a coach and facilitated student groups to practice on group discussions on the topic of current affairs and related. It was one of the initiative which was very useful for the students to appear in interviews with greater confidence” informs Er. Mundra. He was also instrumental in organizing a unique 2 weeks multi state bicycle trip which was undertaken by 3 of his batchmates, Er. Sangeet Jain, Er. Samudra Vijay, Er. Shekhar Gupta and one junior, Er. Umesh Sharma from Mining batch. This Bicycle tour completed the distance of 1600 kms in 15 days covering states of Rajasthan, MP and Gujarat. Er. Mundra also took initiative in starting Photography club by soliciting sponsorships from the local businesses.

Professional Journey at Stock Exchange :

After completing Mechanical Engineering, Er. Lalit Mundra chose uncharted path of Bombay Stock Exchange, as he joined Suresh Rathi & Company as Operations Head in the year 1990. For an Engineer it was completely unknown territory, but with hard work and dedication Er. Mundra learned the tricks of the trade. ” from physical trading when we used to jot down orders on paper to complete digitalization of bourse, from the settlement timing of T+15 to settlement timing of T+2, from no KYC to E-KYC, Stock exchange has witnessed a complete change in last more than 3 decades. There has been a constant improvements in Capital Market because of Regulatory changes. I am a witness to all these proceedings.  We were one of the first brokers to test the BSE BOLT on VSAT and also we were one of the first Depository Participants.” informs Er. Mundra.

In the year 2007, Er. Mundra became Certified Financial Planner after appearing for 6 modules namely financial planning, insurance planning, retirement planning, investment planning, estate planning and tax planning. With the inclination of helping fellow stock brokers Er. Mundra got associated with the Broker Associations namely Association of National Exchanges Members of India (ANMI) and Bombay Stock Exchange Brokers’ Forum (BBF). He was the Chairman at ANMI WR, twice. Once in 2010-11 and then in 2015-16 (only few people in the Broking fraternity have been given this attainment, so far). He was on the BSE Computer & Technology Development Committee (2000-01) and BSE Market Operation Committee (2001-2002). Currently, He is Chairman at the Bombay Stock Exchange Brokers’ Forum (BBF).

Memories of MBM :

“Shri LN Chacha, Shri OP Singhal and Late Shri MR Baid were my favourite professors. Environment was very conducive for learning and Knowledge upgrade. Though mass cuts and strikes were prevalent at that time but it did not hinder our flow of studies.” Quips Er. Mundra. ” There are so many memories associated with MBM Engineering College, I still remember about an advertisement campaign of local business, we were given T-Shirts with company logo and our 2-Wheelers were filled up with petrol and we were to roam around in the City. Despite of rainy day, we enjoyed this unique event as Mirchi Bada was given to all of us at the end of the day.”

Message to Youngsters :

His wisdom words for youngsters are “Try not to become a man of success but rather try to become a man of value by Albert Einstein.” and “Some people want it to happen, some wish it would happen, others make it happen. He requested young generation and students to stay away from speculation in Stock Markets, they should develop habit of savings and adopt a SIP route to own the equities and subsequent Wealth Creation. Living with less needs, keeping low profile helps in life.

Married to Ms. Indu ,a home maker, Er. Mundra is based in Mumbai. His son Devesh and Daughter in law Akansha are Chartered Accountants, While daughter Nehal is pursuing B.Tech Plus MBA Degree from NMIMS.

It is such an inspiring journey of Er. Mundra. Team MBM Story wishes him all the best for his future endeavours.

About Author :

Pritee Mehla is pursuing Bachelor’s degree in Chemical Engineering fro MBM University, Jodhpur. Her hobbies include Writing and reading. She is co-ordinator of NSS and ICC ( Cultural Club). She got placed in Saint Gobain.