The Inveterate Optimist

Harpal Singh is many things rolled into one but that one thread that binds all those personae is the concern for people and nature. The founder of Fortis Healthcare Limited, who is the global vice chairman of 'Save the Children' board, spoke about his programmes and vision to G Babu Jayakumar 

- G Babu Jayakumar

Way back in 2001 when the first Fortis hospital was being built on a seven-acre property in Gurgeon, near Delhi, the man who was entrusted with the job of setting up the structure and the organization was shocked on seeing the construction plan. A cluster of 20 trees would have to be chopped if he had to carry out the work on the basis of the building design prepared by a San Francisco-based architectural company. So, Harpal Singh, a career business executive, sent it back seeking redesign, taking into account the existence of the trees in the premises, though he knew that it would entail a delay in the starting of work in the project that has been entrusted with him. Though the project was delayed by three months, the trees were spared, the building was raised and the rest is history: The hospital grew into a healthcare company having medical facilities all over the country.