Scripting success

When he landed his first job as a car washer for a monthly salary of Rs 500, B M Balakrishna would not have known that he would one day be heading a Rs 20 crore turnover company.  The fascinating success story of a farmer’s son from Chittoor

Taking wings

Renting a two-roomed chawl to set up an STD booth and borrowing Rs.2,000 from his dad to become a ticket agent, Arun Kharat has built a Rs. 140 crore turnover business comprising car rental, radio cab and staff transport, says Somma Banerjjee

Cab to riches

Hunger was his biggest enemy as a child and he had begged with his father for a bowl of rice. For 3 years he even worked as a sweeper in an office.  Usha Prasad tells the story of the owner of a Rs 40 crore turnover cab service in Bengaluru

Simply Sindhu

Olympic silver medallist P V Sindhu’s strategy to become World No. 1 is simple – if you keep winning tournaments, you automatically become number one, she told Mohammed Shafeeq in an interview

Mover and shaker

Vijay Sankeshwar entered the transport business as a 19-year-old, investing Rs 1.20 lakh on a single truck and with a dream to succeed. Today, he is a media baron and heads a Rs. 1,800 crore transport and logistics company, says Usha Prasad

Ramdev’s dairy

Yoga guru Ramdev’s Patanjali is planning to foray into the dairy and baby-care sector now, even as the company aims to double its turnover to Rs 10,000 crore this fiscal. Vishal Gulati reports

Child teacher

A follower of Swami Vivekananda, Babar Ali started a school under a guava tree, when he was just nine years, at his village in West Bengal. The young headmaster, 14 years later, tells G Singh how people accused him of proselytism initially

Wheeling food

Jaideep Sarin recounts the story of Radhika Aroa, an MBA graduate, who quit her corporate job to set up a roadside food cart serving homemade food in Mohali with an investment of Rs. One lakh

Night appetite

A late night food service, Santa Delivers, has caught the fancy of Kolkata people so much that the company, started by three youth who were school mates, has touched a turnover of Rs one crore in just a year and a half. G Singh checks out

Dream success

From a pavement vendor to owning a Rs 60 crore company, Bengaluru-based Raja Nayak has overcome several barriers, including a caste background, to be a model for all those who dream big in life. Usha Prasad on the owner of NutriPlanet Foods

Flattening a myth

Dispelling the long held belief that flat-footed persons cannot excel in sports, Dipa Karmakar has become the first Indian woman gymnast to qualify for the Olympics. Partho Burman tracks the bumpy road the Tripura athlete had travelled so far

Water winner

The ups and downs of B M Balakrishna’s life are linked to water. Starting as a car washer, he went to sell water pumps and then founded a RO plant. S Sainath meets the owner of Rs 20 crore Aquapot that is set to double its turnover this year

Poor’s banker

The son of a poor sweet shop owner, Chandra Shekhar Ghosh today sweetens the lives of women in poverty stricken homes with loans. G Singh traces the incredibly phenomenal rise of the founder of Bandhan Bank that has Rs.12,500 crore deposit now

Chef Robot

A love for dosas led to two friends in college fabricate an automatic dosa maker that is making waves by enabling chefs roast the crispy dosas that they were earlier not able to make outside Tamil Nadu. Usha Prasad has the interesting story

Nursing small towns

After experiencing the trials and tribulations of people from small towns and villages in seeking medical facilities, Dinesh Batra vowed to take specialised health care to smaller places. Today he is living his dreams, says Narendra Kaushik

Fruity growth

From a poor fruit vendor’s son, who grew up eating jack fruit for snacks in an obscure Karnataka village, to owning a Rs 108 crore company making fruit flavoured ice creams in Mumbai, Srinivas Kamath has come a long way, says Somma Banerjjee

Family lunch

When there is an eatery at every nook and cranny, why do people travel as far as 200 km for lunch in an obscure village near Erode? Usha Prasad brings the flavour of UBM Namma Veetu Saapaadu, served in a plantain leaf for the whole family

Grit gets success

From selling samosas on Chennai streets to setting up his own pakora shop to owning a Rs 1.5 crore company supplying delicacies to five star hotels, J Haja Funyamin has come a long way. P C Vinoj Kumar captures the flavour of a success story

Wedded to athletics

Unlike many athletes, who hang up their boots after marriage, Sneha Jain began a medal hunt at the behest of her mother-in-law, and has bagged 149 golds in 15 years. Renu R profiles the Rajasthani who has also set national and Asian records

Born to ski

A 3-year-old Zainab, who took to the ski like fish to water, is being trained to be a professional in Gulmarg. Her parents see a future medal hope for India at Winter Olympics, says Aadil Mir

Momo monarchs

Two friends in Kolkata, keen on turning their culinary delight into business, rejected job offers in a campus interview to start a momo kiosk. Eight years on, their venture started with Rs.30,000 has grown into a Rs.100 Cr entity, says G Singh

Smart mobility

Realising that actual use of cars is on the decline, Sakshi Vij came up with an idea of starting a car rental company, which helps people drive whenever they have to without actually owning a car. Narendra Kaushik tracks the success of Myles