Mazgaon Dock, one of India’s key shipbuilding yards, was where Ved Prakash Goyal began his working life, long before he went on to serve as Minister of State for Ports, Shipping and Waterways. That journey, his son Piyush Goyal said, shaped the discipline, precision and sense of responsibility that continue to guide his own approach to public service.
Speaking in an interview with NDTV, Piyush Goyal reflected on his father’s life as he marked his 100th birth anniversary, drawing a direct link between those early experiences and the values he carries into public office.
Goyal said his father moved to Mumbai from humble beginnings and worked at Mazgaon Dock, where he initially had no place to live. He slept on the premises, sometimes on shelves used to store spare parts, and returned them to place each morning.
“He would tell us that rats used to bite his toes at night,” Goyal said. “So he would remove the spare parts from the shelf, sleep there, and put everything back in the morning.”
The recollections came at the end of a wide-ranging interview on trade and economic policy, offering a personal window into how early hardship translated into lifelong habits.
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Discipline Learned Early
Goyal said those experiences instilled in his father a strict sense of discipline and attention to detail, traits that became part of everyday family life and later influenced how he himself works.
He recalled an incident from his father’s student years, when an examination paper was set outside the syllabus. Despite scoring 99 out of 100, his father chose to reappear for the exam rather than accept the marks.
“He was dissatisfied with 99,” Goyal said. “He took the risk of writing the paper again, and this time he got 100.”
The episode, he said, became a lasting lesson at home — to take responsibility for outcomes and aim for completeness, even when the risk was personal.
Public Service Ethic
From his early years at Mazgaon Dock, Goyal said his father went on to serve in public life, eventually becoming Minister of State for Ports, Shipping and Waterways. The contrast, he said, underscored how circumstances can change while core values remain intact.
“From those beginnings to that responsibility, destiny took its own course,” Goyal said. “But what never changed was how hands-on he remained and how particular he was about doing things properly.”
Goyal said that habit of scrutiny stayed with his father throughout his life. Any document shared at home, he recalled, would come back heavily marked with corrections.
Lasting Influence
The minister said the lessons he absorbed growing up continue to shape how he approaches public service today — from policy work to negotiations and decision-making.
“There are lots of learnings that he has left behind for us to remember him by,” Goyal said. “And to encourage us to serve the nation.”
For Goyal, his father’s journey remains a reminder that public service is built long before public office — shaped by discipline, persistence and a commitment to getting the details right.
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