ANIL NANDA: It's never too late

It's usually not the age to begin life as an entrepreneur. But try telling that to Anil Nanda. The 51-year-old Vice Chairman and MD of Escorts Group is trying to come out of big brother Rajan Nanda's shadows by buying out the promoters' stake worth nearly Rs 21 crore in the group company Goetze India. When Escorts decided to restructure its businesses, the Rs 400-crore auto components maker Goetze didn't fit in the scheme of things. For Nanda it was also a decision driven by sentiment since he had started his career as a rookie manager at Goetze in 1975. And the company also marked Escorts' entry into manufacturing in 1954. "I've been keeping a low profile for a long while but it's time to start something afresh and get more vocal about it," says Nanda, who's also a self-trained fashion designer. His an label of jeans is sold by Gautam Singhania's Be: fashion chain. Now, with a company he can call his own, he's free to design his own course.

VICTOR MENEZES: An opportunity lost

Victor's Loss

Many in the country considered Victor Menezes, the 53-year-old Senior Vice Chairman of Citigroup to be the next serious candidate to enter the rather small pantheon of global Indian CEOs. All such hopes were dashed when Chairman Sandy Weill named Charles Prince the next CEO of the world's biggest financial services company. With age not on his side, the IIT-Mumbai alum probably has had his final shot for the top job.

RAVI S. DEOL: Retail is his cup of coffee

Retained in Retail

If you ever happen to ask Ravi S. Deol his golfing handicap, this is what you are likely to hear: "It's something between a cappuccino and a mocha (the cost of these concoctions at Barista is Rs 20 and Rs 30 respectively)." That being the case, it's difficult to see Deol, who was till recently Barista's MD, selling anything other than coffee. But after speculations that he'd help Starbucks set up shop in India, Deol made a surprise move to head the O.P. Lohia-promoted Indo Rama Synthetics' new grocery and food retail venture. We hope coffee's loss is grocery's gain.

DAVID DAVIDAR: Off to maple-leaf land

Canada Calling

International acclaim for Indian writers isn't new. But now it's a publisher's turn. David Davidar, the 44-year-old CEO and Publisher of Penguin India, will take over as the Publisher of the firm's $80-million Canadian arm from 2004. Under him, Penguin India has become the biggest English language publisher in continental Asia. "Canada will give me new perspective on international publishing, but my association with India will continue as a Director on the board," says Davidar. He's said that his second book could be set in Mumbai, but maybe it'll have a bit of Canada as well.

VIJAY MALLYA: Fate on his side

Bail-out Deal

It's a risk that someone like UB group's chairman Vijay Mallya has to undertake for wearing his flamboyance on his sleeves. When Mallya's chopper crash-landed in northern Karnataka, during his whirlwind political tour in the state, he termed his escape "miraculous and providential". A trained pilot himself, Mallya says the incident has made him turn even more spiritual. "One of the first things I did after checking on my co-passengers and getting treated for injuries was to visit a local temple to offer prayers," he adds. We aren't sure if the Art of Living course came in handy, but nonetheless, Mallya seems to have struck a covenant with someone up there.

RAJAT GUPTA: Once a guru, always a guru

The Guru At School

While he was heading the world's best known consulting firm, Rajat Gupta never passed up an opportunity to hardsell India. That's one of the reasons why he played a vital role in setting up the Indian School of Business (ISB). Now, two months after stepping down as McKinsey's MD, the IIT-Delhi-Harvard b-school grad will be back in India to preach what he practiced. Along with Infosys Chief Mentor N.R. Narayana Murthy and former RBI Governor C. Rangarajan, Gupta will don the mantle of professorship to develop and teach modules on 'Competitive Strategies in the Global Market' at ISB. Surely, getting into ISB is worth more than ever.

-contributed by Shailesh Dobhal, Venkatesha Babu & T.R. Vivek