Filthy Rich is Manoj Raithatha's personal story of ruthless ambition. It is the story of one man's belief that 'money trumps morals, money equals power'. But it is also the story of what happens when everything falls apart.
Manoj Raithatha was raised as a Hindu. Interested in business at a young age, he started selling alcohol at school, and soon realized the power of money to 'buy' school friends. He seemed to have achieved success when his debut play 'BBA and Proud' won an Edinburgh Fringe First prize and led to a contract for the BAFTA-winning children's TV series, My Life as a Popat. But Manoj wanted more. Money became a 'real-life magnet' in his life - a factor which intensified when he became a buyer of new build properties. At one point, he bought 220 apartments in Leeds in a deal worth over £30 million.
However, Manoj's professional and personal world came tumbling around him in 2008 when the mortgage market collapsed and his 2 year old son, Ishaan, was hospitalised with life threatening breathing difficulties. In desperation, Manoj prayed to God for the first time in over 20 years - 'in recent years,' he writes, 'I had made money and success my God. But at this point, all the money in the world would not make a blind bit of difference.' Deeply touched by the prayers of a Christian couple for his sickly son, Manoj and his wife Maria went to church with the couple after Ishaan's miraculous recovery - and a few weeks later, Manoj gave his life to Christ.
Filthy Rich is most certainly an incredible story of a life transformed by a powerful encounter with Jesus. This is a book to read but then to give away to a friend or neighbour and hope it will impact them!
