Born in December 1948 in Dodoma, Tanzania, Diamond Rattansi proceeded to Karachi, Pakistan, in 1968 to do his M.A. in philosophy. After graduating, he taught logic and philosophy at the government college. He volunteered to teach logic to Ismaili youths of Garden area in the evenings. He found the young Ismailis like dry sponges willing to absorb as much knowledge as possible. They strongly believed that their freedom and success lay in acquiring more and more conceptual tools. He also taught introduction to logic and philosophy at the Ismaili Institution, known as tariqah Board. Here he met many Ismailis from Hunza and Chitral valleys of Hindu Kush Himalayan ranges. Their history and practice of Ismail faith is starkly different than those of Khojah Ismailis. Later, in 1975, Diamond joined the Aga Khan delegation to survey socio economic conditions of people in Chitral. The collected data was to be used to implement Aga Khan Development Network projects related to education, agriculture, and health, etc.. In 1976 and 1977, he represented Pakistan’s tariqah board at the International conference held in Nairobi, Kenya.
He migrated to Canada with his family in 1977. He continued to pursue his Ph.D. program at McGill University in Montreal. He then moved to Toronto in 1987. He was instrumental in starting twenty businesses in conjunction with Nizar, Firoz, Shiraz, Yasmin, Salim, Karim and Farhan Karmali.
He joined the Rotary International and led the local Mississauga Airport Club as president for several terms. During his Rotary years, he participated in several humanitarian projects in Guatemala and Kenya. He also initiated a youth leadership project in the schools in Malton to equip them with entrepreneurial and social skills. Currently, he is living a so-called semi retired life in Mississauga.
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