“I didn’t ever view myself as an employee at Deloitte and I really wasn’t one. As an equity partner for over 25 years, I felt like a part-owner of an organisation that shared my values.” These words reflect upon the integrity and professionalism he holds towards his career and life as a whole.
Yezdi, born in August 1949, was raised in a close-knit Parsi family in Mumbai (known as Bombay then). His family lived in an apartment at Breach Candy in Mumbai. He recalls visitinsg his paternal grandparents in Vadodara (then Baroda) each summer. The community’s passion for focusing on various professions played a major role in shaping his career.
Jamshedji, his paternal grandfather, was a brilliant lawyer who was later appointed to be a judge on the Gujarat High Court. His maternal grandfather, Dr. Behramji Khambatta, was a highly respected obstetrician in Mumbai. His father, Noshir, used to work for TATA Airlines in Delhi, which later became Air India. Having qualified as a CA in the UK in 1935, he then moved to Mumbai in 1948 to become the CFO of Air India. His mother, Khorshed, was a dedicated mother who looked after their three sons. Noshir never owned a property and never thought about investing in one. He was fully dedicated to and consumed by his role at Air India, which inspired Yezdi a lot.
Yezdi received his education up to grade 11 at St. Mary’s High School in Byculla (Mumbai). He earned his bachelor’s degree in Aeronautical Engineering from the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT)-Bombay in 1972. While in college, he joined Cricket Club of India (CCI) and was introduced to squash and fell in love with the sport. He equally loved playing tennis and cricket, was an avid bridge player and a master at chess.
In 1972, he went to Imperial College in London for his higher education in Thermal Power Engineering. His education in England was supported by two loan scholarships—J.N. Tata Endowment and R.D. Sethna Scholarship Fund. However, his passion for planes and engineering didn’t help him secure a job as an engineer because of the 1973–1974 recession. Moreover, the first and the only company where he applied for an engineering job in the UK offered him an unpaid 18-month apprenticeship. This was the attitude towards freshers back then.
Yezdi, then, decided to pursue a CA designation in London. He remembers teasing his elder brothers for following their father’s footsteps as accountants. He jokingly referred to it as the profession of last resort! However, his CA plan was only an escape route. It was normal for engineers to pursue an MBA in those times but he couldn’t as he exhausted his scholarship fund. His lack of interest in accountancy and auditing led him to establish a career in consulting, focusing on risk advisory services. This allowed him to draw upon his analytical engineering background and his risk/ control training as a CA.
It was during his CA days when he met Jennifer, a Sri Lankan, who was pursuing LLM at London University. They tied the knot in December 1978 in Colombo. Her father was a prominent lawyer in Sri Lanka but couldn’t persuade her to return home. Yezdi’s parents went through a minor adjustment as he was the first in his family to marry outside their community. Jennifer, however, was very warmly accepted in the family and became the ‘daughter’ his parents never had.
In 1978, Yezdi got an offer from Touche Ross in Toronto, which later became part of Deloitte & Touche and now is known as Deloitte. In 1979, he moved to explore new horizons with his family. The transition was tough as coming to a new country turned out to be a little lonely. Although one of his elder brothers was based in Toronto, both Jennifer and Yezdi missed their large circle of friends in London. There was a period of uncertainty during 1979–80 as they contemplated going back to London. But, with sheer determination and hope for the future, they decided to make Canada their home. While at Deloitte, he decided to develop a risk advisory services practice instead of pursuing accounting and auditing. It was the first of its kind back in 1995 and instantly became the most dominant practice of its kind and remains so to this day. He became the managing partner of the Toronto Practice of Deloitte in 2004, and retired in 2012 as a vice chairman. Throughout his time at Deloitte, he never viewed himself as an employee, but as a part-owner, an entrepreneur at heart.
One of the other roles that Yezdi played for many years was as a board member of the United Way of Greater Toronto – a worldwide not-for-profit movement that raises support locally, directly responding to the local needs. For two years from 2011 to 2013, he was the chairman of the board of trustees there. He is still actively involved there as a former chairman. He has also delivered his services to various hospital boards throughout Canada. In this way, he ensured that he was giving back to the community. After his retirement in 2012, he joined several other boards of companies like Hydro One, Ontario Power Generation, Golder Engineering and MD Financial. He has also served as the chairman of the Canada India Business Council (C-IBC). He is still active as a board member of the Canadian subsidiary of ICICI Bank Ltd., one of India’s largest private sector banks.
Jennifer, Yezdi’s better half, found it very difficult to break into the legal profession in Canada despite being qualified as a lawyer in the UK. This was due to some limitations placed on the inclusion of immigrants into the Canadian legal system. Instead, Jennifer ran a business for almost six years until their eldest daughter, Sabrina, was born in 1985. In 1988, they gave birth to twin daughters, Tanya and Melissa and Jennifer was consumed in the upbringing of their children, as Yezdi was busy building his career at Deloitte. Jennifer continues to be in charge of the well-being of the Pavri family to this very day.
Sabrina is a certified plastic and reconstructive surgeon, while Tanya is a full-fledged internal medicine physician, and Melissa has made her career in health-care technology. They are all settled in the USA and have decided to make it their new home. Sabrina is married to Raj, who is also a plastic surgeon, specialising in cranio-facial reconstruction. They have two children, Gabriel and Eva, making Yezdi and Jennifer now proud and happy grandparents.
Good thoughts, good words, good deeds
Yezdi was brought up with principles revolving around good thoughts, good words and good deeds. His religious background paved the way for him to develop a notion of integrity. For him, integrity means thinking straight, talking straight and acting straight in everyday interactions with your family, your colleagues and those you serve. He learned the principles of honesty, integrity and professionalism from his father. Integrity has always been his priority. What matters most for him is the integrity in professional life, not the revenues and profits made. He demonstrates it in his day-to-day life.
Joining hands with Ratna Nidhi Trust in India, he supports the trust financially to provide meals to the underprivileged in Maharashtra. Recently, Yezdi completed a pet project where he enjoyed exercising his engineering background. He bought a small bungalow, tore it down and built an elegant custom home. He acted as the on-site supervisor to ensure that the house was being professionally built on schedule and within budget.
At age 72, Yezdi does everything possible to keep himself mentally and physically engaged and active. Like most engineers, he isn’t too fond of reading but keeps relentlessly abreast of world affairs. “His favourite is The Devil’s Advocate. He has an amazingly open and analytical mind with the ability to debate intellectually,” shares Jennifer.
Yezdi believes in creating a culture of ‘Inclusive Meritocracy’, regardless of differences in ethnic, religious, gender and sexual orientation. That was his mantra at Deloitte and the values he inculcated in his children. You will definitely succeed if you are dedicated to working hard and learning from your mistakes.