I have the pleasure of having Mr. Stany as my close friend, fellow Kanajarian, neighbor in Dubai as well my Kumpar and  also known to me for over 35 years.

As far as Kanajarians are concerned there is no need to introduce this family of Mr. Lazarus D’Souza and Mrs. Eliza D’Souza, Jeevan Jyothi, Kanajar, as they are well known because of their generosity, friendliness and always ready to help for those people who are in need. They have four children and all are boys, the eldest one is Mr. Walter, next Stany D’Souza, Jeevan D’Souza and the last one Joy D’Souza.  I have the priveledge of knowing this family very well from my childhood days. Stany is the second eldest son of Mr.  Lazarus & Mrs. Eliza D’Souza born on the 24 January 1967 in Kanajar and he completed his primary education from the school dedicated to our Lady of Lourdes (Lourdes Higher Primary School). Stany was very active during his school days and actively participated in all the school events. As far as I remember he was the favorite student of the teachers specially the nuns. After completing his primary education at the Lourdes school he moved to the Government Junior College in Bailur to complete his high school education (8-10) and due to his outstanding performance in studies and other extra curricular activities he got admission at the St. Aloysius College in Mangalore to persue his pre-university education(PUC). This is the time, I hardly used to see him in Kanajar as he was staying at the hostel in Mangalore. Stany completed his pre-university education (11 & 12) PUC, from St. Aloysius College Mangalore, the education and discipline that was taught at this institution made Stany a thorough gentleman and a well disciplined individual.Stany still remembers and gives all the credit to this institution for those two years that he spent at this college and I have heard him encouraging the younger generation to enroll at this institution which he feels make any person stand out of the crowd.

After completing his studies (PUC) from St. Aloysius College, Stany entered into his professional education to pursue his Bachelor of Engineering (B.E.) from a well known institution not only in Karnataka but all our India i.e Manipal Institute of Technology (M.I.T) Manipal. He joined this institution in the year 1984 and at that time, I was in my 2nd year of my Engineering. As we are from the same place and known to each other very well, this place Manipal brought us more closer to each other and there are many incidents that Stany still remembers and we always discuss even today some of the adventurous life that we had in Manipal. This institution and the education made Stany a strong man, a true professional in the field of Mechanical Engineering. Stany ventured into his working life by joining a multinational company in Bombay in the year 1989, where he could gain good experience in his Engineering field up to 1992, the foundation experience on which he was able build what he is today. He later in this year and in this year he moved to Abu Dhabi for a better opportunity and to progress further in life. He worked for a well known Engineering firm in Abu Dhabi till the beginning of 1998 and at that time I had moved already to Dubai from my previous employment in Bahrain. This was the third opportunity that again bought us together in the busy city of Dubai, where I found a Stany a matured gentleman and always smiling and taking time to entertain friends and always there when anybody needed him to most. We used to meet during most of the weekends and had good time meeting and sharing our personal and professional life endeavors.

It was in the year 1997 that Stany got married to Ms. Sunilla Diana from Mudarangadi Parish who is also a very close relative to my family and therefore the bond of friendship between the our families became more stronger. Stany family became more closer to each other and we stay very close to each other in our day to day life. We also come together under one umbrella, when we all Kanajarian meet under the banner of Lourdes Kanajar Association, Emirates. Stany was the first president of the Association which established in the year and leadership qualities, which is an inspiring quality for the young generation to take note of him and move forward.

Stany ventured into setting up his own business in the field of oilfield fabrication works in Sharjah in the year 2005 and successful in setting up a unique name in this field and he is a proud owner of M/s Dragon Engineering LLC. I provide an official interview with him for our “Lourdachi Zerr” magazine which is going to be sponsored and published by the Kanajar parish on the occasion of Easter feast.

Even though I was aware of most of the incidents in Mr. Stany’s life, I took this opportunity to put few questions mentioned below and he was more than happy to provide me with the responses.

Question:Your birth place and parents details in brief
Answer: I was born in KANAJAR on the 24 January 1967. And my Dad’s name is Mr. Lazarus D’Souza and my Mummy’s name is Mrs. Eliza D’Souza

Q:Your preliminary education and Graduation
A:Primary – Lourdes Higher Primary, High School – Govt Jr. College, Bailur, PUC – St. Aloysius College Mangalore & Mech. Engineering - MIT-1989

Q:Initial employment details?
A:In Bombay (1989-92), In Abu Dhabi ( 1992-1998 ) & In Dubai ( 1998-2005 )

Q: How did this thought came to your mind to venture into setting up you own establishment./ Is there any individual by whom you get inspired or it was your dream that you always wanted to be self employed ?
A: It was my dream that one day I should be self employed.

Q:When did you land in Gulf and what were your initial achievements?
A: In 1992, Abu Dhabi, worked in the oil fields of Abu Dhabi  & gained lot of experience in the oil field construction activity which helped  me setting up my business.

Q: When did you start your new company and what were the challenges that you faced? 
A: Started in October 2005 & the biggest challenge was to convince the clients regarding the nature of our job. Since there were many companies involved in oil field fabrication, it was not easy to establish a client base.

Q: Did you come across any major problems/ just brief us on your journey as an entrepreneur?
A: When the major problem started was to get skilled manpower. Since we are into specialized fabrication we required experienced fabricators, welders etc. Thanks to God Almighty, we managed to get very skilled, experienced & honest people without whom it would not been possible to reach this stage.

Q:Did your family (Parents) support your idea of business and what was their initial reaction when you wanted to get into this new phase in your professional career.?
A: First of all I thank parents for giving me perfect upbringing by providing me good education & teaching me good things in life. My family always supported  by giving me courage & help to do good things. I thank all my family members since it was not a easy decision to venture into a new business.

Q:You are a family man and care and love your family very well.  Did you find difficulty to dedicate enough time to your family when you entered into business or you were able to keep up your routine life?
A:I always believed in “ To achieve something you need to sacrifice something”. Initially it was difficult to dedicate time to my family since establishing a business requires lot of extra hours to be spent in the office. I thank my wife for all the support given to me during the difficult period. She has managed to run the house single handedly without bothering me.

Q: You have a great respect for your friends besides your family which is a true fact!! How you balance both in your busy schedule?
A: For me friends are always part of my life. It was not at all difficult to balance my time b/w family & friends since I am fortunate to have a good friends circle.

Q:What is your aim and where you want to go from here?
A:My aim is to make into a bigger established company where by it creates job opportunity for the needed people & also help them grow along with the company.

Q:Do have any piece of advice for people who want to enter into business?
A:My advice to people is hard work always pays off. Be honest in what you do. Don’t compromise on principles to achieve success in short time. Customer satisfaction is very important for any company to become a succesfull establishment.

Q:What is your advice for the young generation for to be successful in life?
A:My advice to young generation is whatever you do, do it sincerely & honestly. Dedication & discipline is very important to achieve success. Don’t lose hopes on anything. Give respect to parents & you will be successful in life.

Q:How were your college days?
A:Did freak out too much - My College days are golden days in my life. As I said earlier I was fortunate to come across many friends during my college days.
We did freak out, but things were always under control.

Interviewed and compiled by:


Shri Aloysius D’Souza
(Kapadi) Kanajar/ Dubai