Asian Power Couples Hot 100 - 2013 | Page 31

Asian Power Couples Ritu & Sudhir Sethi Ritu Sethi is a solicitor and senior partner at The Sethi Partnership and Solicitors in Eastcote, Middlesex, where she undertakes criminal litigation work. She is a Solicitor and an Officer of the Supreme Court. She was the presenter of the ‘Chai with Ritu’ programme on Sky TV from October 2006 until January 2007. This was a series of 13 programmes which Ritu hosted on the British Asian journey featuring people from all walks of life. Ritu has won many awards and is a frequent guest on radio discussing legal issues. She recently launched her own motivational book ‘Having it all NOW!’ on juggling work life, spirituality and everything that life has to offer. Ritu is married to Sudhir Sethi. Ritu & Sudhir Sethi Sudhir Sethi is Owner and Managing Director at Abacus Computers Limited which he set up in April 2007. He started his career as a programmer at Beechams, followed by a stint at Union Carbide before taking up a role as Business Development Director at Scitec Group Ltd, a role which he left in 2007. Rita & Rahul Sharma Rita Sharma founded the travel agency Worldwide Journey in 1986 as a ‘bespoke travel agency’. It was rebranded to Best At Travel in 2003 and has since expanded to provide other services including cruises and flights. Born in India but brought up in Ilford, Essex, since childhood, Rita dropped out of law school at Sussex University after a term to start her travel agency. Her husband, Rahul Sharma is an accountant who joined the business shortly after its formation. In 2011, The Sunday Times Rich List valued the pair’s net worth at £80 million. Rita Sharma was awarded an OBE in 2007. Sanjay & Seema Sharma Sanjay Sharma is a cardiologist and Professor of Cardiology at St George’s University of London. He qualified in 1989 from Leeds University and trained at St Mary’s Hospital, Paddington and St George’s Hospital, London. From 1996 to 2001, Sanjay was a consultant cardiologist and physician at University Hospital Lewisham. He then moved to the role of director of heart muscle diseases at King’s College Hospital from 2001-2007. In 2007 he became a professor of inherited cardiac diseases in sports cardiology, before becoming consultant cardiologist for Cardiac Risk in the Young in 2010. He is a medical director for a number of sports-related initiatives. Seema Sharma Seema Sharma was born in Lusaka, Zambia, to parents of Punjabi descent, and brought up in Kenya. She qualified as a dentist from Guys Hospital in 1989 and won several awards in the 90’s for the rapid growth of her dental practice in Docklands. Seema now owns a practice management and training consultancy, Dentabyte Ltd. In 2009 she was invited to India to be the “real Slumdog Secret Millionaire” in the popular Channel 4 philanthropy series which led to her founding The Sharma Foundation to support preventative strategies in education, empowerment and health. She now divides her time between her business interests and charity work. 31