By By Sudeshna Das
Hailing from a middle-class, partition-affected family, reaching the USA only with eight dollars in his pocket, building a multi-billion dollar business as the ‘Father of the Pentium Chips,’ Vinod Dham—an Indian-American engineer, entrepreneur, and venture capitalist—continues his fearless journey. In a conversation with Sudeshna Das, consulting editor at EFY, he shares the story of his life.
Born in Pune, Maharashtra, Vinod Dham comes from a partition-affected, middle-class family. His parents shifted to India with three sons and one daughter from Rawalpindi, now in Pakistan, to escape the post-partition crisis. Vinod was the fourth son, who was born in free India, in 1950.
Vinod’s father was a civilian in the Army, in-charge of the supply chains, such as spare parts for army equipment. His mother was a homemaker.
Vinod’s siblings were also well established in their professional life. His eldest brother did his MBA and was a banker in Delhi. He retired as GM at Union Bank of India. His second eldest brother was a physician and retired as Air Marshal in the Indian Air Force. He also served as the dean of the Armed Forces Medical College, Pune. Vinod’s third brother was an accountant and his sister had a master’s degree.
Vinod mentions his mother as a big inspiration. He explains how supportive his mother was in encouraging him to higher study in the USA even after the death of his father. Vinod recalls asking her, “Do you want me to go?” She replied without blinking, “You must go. It is your destiny. It will ‘make’ you. I will manage. Don’t worry about me.” It was a powerful message for Vinod. “She could have stopped me and I would have stopped in a second, but she did not,” he explains.
My mother was the biggest hero in the whole family in my mind. She was the glue that kept the family together, nurturing, loving, confidence-building, believed in faith and therefore taught us that and some great values that have come in handy all my life. When I look back and try to pick a person who has inspired my life, it invariably comes down to my mom.” – Vinod Dham
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