While some earn a living spending countless hours at a mundane desk job, a few others make a profession out of playing poker! Yes, you heard that right. Miniscule monthly salaries versus making a few millions over a good hand of cards? We like the latter. Clawin D’Souza is a living example that taking a…
Tired of buying meaningless gifts that don’t have any thought or feelings put into them by their makers? Why would they anyway as not everybody understands the emotions behind giving someone a gift. But Kaira Gift World is different. Started by a mother of two and a former corporate professional, Kaira Gift World understands the…
Sapna Book House has been a household name in Bangalore as well as Karnataka for around 50 inspiring years. Determined to not let it stop there, Nijesh Shah, a young man passionate about technology, decided to create an online presence for the book house and created Sapna Infoway. From a small 10X10 sq ft of…
After a devastating stroke in 2012, doctors gave up on Sharad Kumar merely due to the severity of the condition. He lost his voice for 3 years and has been paralyzed on his right side ever since. Having survived the traumatic disease, the challenge for the brave man was to rebuild his life. Sharad says,…
Beginning from a young age, Pragnya Wakhlu, started her music journey under the guidance of her guru in Pune. Focused on getting a good base with Indian classical music, she then ventured out to build her western vocal skills and even learned how to play the guitar. Through all of this she became a part…
Several years ago, Virali Modi was clinging on for her life in a ventilator following an accident. Lying helplessly in a coma, the odds were against her at that point but, sure enough, that she regained consciousness and had got her life back. However, she wasn’t mentally prepared for the fact that she wouldn’t be…
Shayna Leigh is a singer/songwriter who was trying to make it in New York City. Being signed to a ‘Universal Music Group’ affiliated record label ‘S-Curve Records’ changed the course of the musician’s life drastically. She released her first debut album, ‘Drive’, subsequently, under the label on July 28, 2015. Shayna says that she’s really…
As a self-taught musician, it is more that incredible what Esther Eden has achieved by herself. Apart from performing in major concerts with the likes of Adam Lambert, Sean Paul, Fifth Harmony, amongst many others, Esther has won multiple awards as well. She is the Ambassador for Sennheiser, was nominated for ‘Young Achiever, 2016, at…
Apart from being an alumna of IIM B, Gauri Jayaram also has over 20 years of experience in the travel industry. Having grown businesses of several travel companies, she decided to start one of her own. The Active Holiday Company is the first Indian company to focus exclusively on International Adventure Travel. Her company is…
Avanie Joshi is one of the upcoming talents in the music industry. Starting off with just a YouTube channel, she has now stepped into the arena of Bollywood. A singer and songwriter by profession, she was involved in her art even during her school. She says that building these skills are easy once you understand…
After being involved with startup journalism, Abhilasha Dafria was introduced to the start-up ecosystem in India. What she realized was that many entrepreneurs had grand ideas, but had a hard time executing it due to the lack of a relevant network. To bridge this gap, Abhilasha founded Venturator. Combining the words ‘venture’ and ‘accelerator’, the…
Graduating from Purdue University, USA to be a computer engineer, Varun Gupta later went on to do his MBA from Columbia University, New York. However, he has been involved in his family business, a water purifying business, for the last 10 years. In 2015, he branched out of his family business to start Clicktable; a…
A graduate from IIT Kanpur, Manish Kumar has over a decade of experience in the banking and financial industry. Subsequent to which, he founded ‘KredX’; India’s first invoice discounting marketplace that connects businesses looking to raise fast working capital, with investors. To understand his business model simply, he says, “We enable the growth of small businesses…
In 2011, Arunima Sinha was thrown off a train by some robbers resulting in an amputated leg. Many tried to pass this incident off as a suicide but eventually she managed to prove it to be an accident. She says, “I was lying on the tracks bleeding; one leg had to be amputated, while I…
Born and raised in Bangalore, Pavitra Chalam was a national-level roller skater and athlete for more than a decade before she embarked on her journey as a filmmaker. Pavitra represented India as a Peace Ambassador to Pakistan in 2003. As part of the Youth Initiative for Peace in Pakistan, she was chosen by her peers…
The maverick of the Kapoor family, Aditya Raj Kapoor is a businessman and an avid traveler who moved away from the Kapoor family’s traditional Bollywood career path. He has several businesses including an amusement park, a fashion school in UAE. Apart from the philanthropist side of his personality, Aditya is an enthusiastic bike rider, who at…
One day after Kirthi Jayakumar turned 25, on December 16, 2012, is when the infamous Delhi gang-rape happened. Kirthi was receiving an award for her work with a US based NGO called ‘Delta Women’, which worked for the rights of women in the US and Nigeria. Awakened by the lack of security for the women…
After a sudden urge of wanting to give up music that she’s been enjoying doing for 24 years, Swapna Abraham instead took up a challenge of recording 1000 songs in 1000 days. She says, “I had performed the globe over, published 20 odd albums, impressed upon thousands of people with the ‘gift’ of music; but…
There are not many stories that is as jaw dropping as the story of Monica Singh; an acid attack survivor and the founder of ‘Mahendra Singh Foundation’ (MSF). The foundation is an NGO that is here to help other girls and women survivors to overcome their obstacles and achieve their potential. Being a survivor of…
After noticing a niche that hadn’t been explored in the regulatory compliance space in terms of third party support, entrepreneurs, Indranil Choudhury and Siddharth Singh wanted to make the most of this discovery. Therefore, in 2007, they along with two other founders founded ‘Lexplosion Solutions Pvt. Ltd.’; a company that simplifies complex legal issues and…