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Alexander Von Behr: Unco(r)king the bubblyHe will surely add fizz to Coca-Cola's operations in the country. After all, Alexander Von Behr, 41, who takes over from departing Coca-Cola India CEO, Donald Short, has the reputation of being a trouble-shooter who, as the company's Director, Operations (Southeast & West Asia), steered it through the great Southeast Asian meltdown last year. ''I am excited about my new role. We are committed to developing the industry,'' says Alexander, who has had varied experience, with companies as diverse as tobacco giant Philip Morris and consultancy major McKinsey & Co.. Barely a month into his new assignment, Alexander, who is also a keen golfer, is already talking about lobbying for excise duty rationalisation on soft drinks. Looks like he's going to kick off his innings with a lot of fizz...

Indrani Sen: Painting a new futureShe mixes business with pleasure. Indrani Sen, 50, Vice-President & Media Services Director, HTA, Calcutta, juggles a busy advertising career with her interest in painting. She draws both inspiration and material from her surroundings-colour ads in this case. Indrani, who held an exhibition at the Genesis Art Gallery in Calcutta last month, puts together large collages, using colours from print ads as brushstrokes to give shape to her flights of fancy. Says Indrani: ''Since I am surrounded by ads the whole day, putting together collages gives me an opportunity to combine the pleasures of my job and my long-cherished hobby of painting.'' The medium is the message...

Annamalai Muthaih: No kidstuff, thisHe is a true torch-bearer. Back in 1929, Annamalai Muthiah's great grandfather, Raja Sir Annamalai Chettiar, founded the Annamalai University in Chidambaram, Tamil Nadu. Today, the 37-year-old Muthiah is building ''a worldwide learning community'' of children, in association with Futurekids of California (US). Muthiah's Futurekids Asia, slated to take off next month, will transform Indian schools into e-nabled ''future schools'' by making young students computer savvy. Says the University of Colorado alumnus: ''I want to be to able to give children the right perspective.'' His source of inspiration? His daughters, Chitra, 9, and Priya, 5. When not running Futurekids Asia, Muthiah, a certified scuba-diver as well as an amateur pilot, heads the San Francisco-based software consultancy Calisys Corporation as its president and CEO. Future perfect?...

Pavan Nigam: Cashing in on healthHealth for him is, literally, wealth. Pavan Nigam, 40, who co-founded Healtheon Corporation, a health portal with a market capitalisation of $10 billion, jointly with Netscape founder Jim Clark, did so when he realised that although one-sixth of the US economy is based on healthcare, the $1.20-trillion industry itself is so fragmented that the Net could be a perfect medium to solve healthcare needs. He wasn't wrong. Healtheon now has 1,800 employees and revenues close to $100 million. Now, this ex-iitian, an avid American football fan who has worked with Intel and Silicon Graphics, wants to extend Healtheon's services to India, and is setting up a centre at Hyderabad. A healthy extension of business, hopefully...

Saurav Adhikari: Smart cybermovesFrom hawking pots and pans in the old economy, he's taken a quantum leap into the New Economy. Saurav Adhikari, 41, who just quit his job as the CEO of Tefal India, the French appliances major, will spearhead HCL Infosystems' yet-unnamed Net venture. Says Saurav, who has also worked at Hindustan Lever and PepsiCo India: ''This is the area of the future, where exciting growth opportunities lie, and I would be a fool not to take advantage of it.'' The only downside, says the self-confessed fitness fanatic, is that the new job and the long commute between HCL's offices in NOIDA and his residence in Gurgaon won't leave Saurav any time to write and teach-both of which he loves. But the leap from frying pans straight into cyberspace should compensate for that.

 

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