Focus Punjab: Partner-in-Service - Shri Anil Lal

Lal was born in New Delhi in 1955 and came to the U.S. at the age of two with his mother, father and brother; his younger sister was born in America. Lal’s father believed that success depended on how badly you needed it — having three children to support constituted a great need; so, in 1960 he started his own company, India Arts, an importer of Indian hand-crafted gift items and the company Lal now owns. Lal has worked his whole life in the family business, aside from one year in which he worked in an insurance company. Today, India Arts has grown to become a leading supplier of handcrafted gift items from India to more than 4,000 retailers nationwide.
Lal shares his philosophy regarding making social commitments to society: “I feel there are three pillars of commitment: 1) take care of yourself, 2) take care of your immediate family, and 3) take care of other people’s kids, which means take care of the worldwide community, those people who can’t even afford the basic necessities of life. The trick is to perform all of these actions simultaneously.” He adds, “Often people say, ‘When I make this amount of money, I will donate to charity.’ Well, I tell those people, don’t talk about it, just do it.”


Lal grew up in San Francisco and attended Lowell High School. He went to college part-time at Skyline and part-time at San Francisco State University. He has been married for 33 years to his wife, Suman. The Lal’s have three children, two sons ages 32 and 29, and a daughter, 23.

Some key Non-Profit Organizations which I have associated with over the past 20 years:


- Sankara Eye Foundation – Advisor and major donor

- Nargis Dutt Cancer Foundation – President and then Chairman

- CARE – One of the world’s largest human development organizations
Chairperson – No. California Board of Trustees

- Home of Hope – Board Member

- IACEF – Volunteer
Helped to co-ordinate Youth Awards in No. Ca.

- Gandhi Mela - Volunteer
Helped to Co-ordinate the annual Mela in San Francisco

- FIA No. Ca – Volunteer
Helped to Co-ordinate the first Festival of India

- ICC – IndoAmerican Chamber of Commerce No. CA
Director of Membership