BIO
Born in 1965 in Mumbai, India, Swapan Dhairyawan grew up in a bungalow with a large joint family consisting of more than 50 relatives. He credits his childhood environment with teaching him how to coexist with different people and accept diverse viewpoints, an attitude he carries to this day. Since he was good with numbers growing up, Mr. Dhairyawan decided to pursue finance as a career. After obtaining both his bachelor’s degree and his master’s degree in Advanced Accounting & Auditing from Mumbai University, he obtained a cost accountant degree from the Institute of Cost & Work Accountants of India (ICWAI) in Calcutta. Because his wife already lived in Houston, Texas, and also because they both felt that Houston was the best U.S. city in terms of climate and culture, Mr. Dhairyawan immigrated there in 1999. After four years of working at the same CPA firm, he and his business partner left to found their own CPA firm, MD and Associates. Now, their firm has successfully expanded to Dallas and Spring, Texas as well. Mr. Dhairyawan is deeply involved in numerous community and Indo-American organizations, including the India Culture Center (ICC), the International Hindi Association (IHA), and the Indo American Chamber of Commerce (IACC). He has also held a range of leadership positions, from being president of the ICC in 2010, to being the national president of the IHA in 2016 and 2017, to being president of the IACC in 2018 and 2019, among many other positions. In recognition of his passion for community service, Mr. Dhairyawan has received several awards, including the Lifetime Achievement Award from the ICC in 2022. In this interview, he also describes the founding, naming, and history of the Mahatma Gandhi District in Hillcroft, Texas, as well as factors that make it so successful. In his free time, Mr. Dhairyawan enjoys reading, meditating, listening to music, and watching old-timey TV shows.