SIDDHARTH VERMA: Does Reebok make seven-league sneakers?

There's surely something about India and Indian managers that Reebok's Boston-based bosses love. Consider this: in the last three years, five senior execs from the sportswear maker's Indian operations have been handed bigger, international duties. Following in the footsteps of his predecessor Muktesh Pant, who is now the company's Chief Marketing Officer, is Reebok India's cherubic 40-year-old Managing Director Siddharth Verma. After a three-year stint at the top, Verma is now headed for Rotterdam to lead Reebok's European marketing ops. "In the last three years Reebok India has retained its market leadership and become a profitable company from being a mere start-up. But Europe is going to be a different cup of tea as it's one of the most complex and challenging sport markets," he says. At this point, we aren't sticking our necks out on whether Verma can do another Pant. But given the company's tradition, Subhinder Singh Prem, currently the marketing head and MD-designate in India, must be keeping a travel bag handy.

VIKRAM THAPAR: Minding his Ps

Seafood Success

He's been known to conjure up a killer prawn cocktail, and, going by the response his newly opened seafood joint in Bangalore, Tiger-Bay, is getting, Vikram Thapar seems to have got his ingredients right yet again. Buoyed by his success, the 55-year-old gourmet cook and the scion of the Rs 490-crore Inder Mohan Thapar Group, plans to roll out 70 such restaurants across the country. "Our company TheWaterBase is already into the export of a variety of prawns and crabs, ergo, the restaurant venture is just a natural extension," he says. It surely pays to know your prawns.

BALA V. BALACHANDRAN: It's Great Lakes for Chennai

Championing Chennai

Bangalore has an IIM. Hyderabad is home to the Wharton-Kellogg-parented ISB. Among the three southern knowledge economy cities, it's only Chennai that's missing a B-school. To change that, renowned Kellogg Professor Bala V. Balachandran is teaming up with influential fellow Tamils in the Chicago region (C.K. Prahalad and IMF economist Raghuram Rajan are two) to start the Great Lakes Institute of Higher Learning in Chennai. Slated to open in April 2004, the B-school looks to provide a cheaper alternative to ISB. "It's my way of giving something back to the state," says Balachandran.

NAVEEN & SHALLU JINDAL: The united colours of patriotism

Flagbearer Couple

Two years back, Naveen Jindal famously won the right to fly the tricolour atop his office. Now, to show that it wasn't just a gimmick, the 33-year-old MD of Jindal Steel & Power, along with wife Shallu, is on a mission to educate citizens on their rights and responsibilities towards the flag. On Independence Day, the Jindals are organising an art and photo exhibition, with the tricolour as the theme in Delhi. The works that constitute the exhibit of 19 prominent artists, photographers and sculptors, will travel around the country. "The flag should inspire us every moment, and that can happen only if we understand what the symbol means," says the couple. No one could disagree with that.

HANS MICHAEL-HUBER: Pity he'll never drive it

Flying High

Every Sunday he goes out karting with his three teenaged sons. He never wins. But Hans Michael-Huber, 43, the MD of Mercedes-Benz India, is winning where it really matters. He expects 1,600 Mercs to be sold in India this year (a 30 per cent increase). That's good going in a country renowned for its thrift. The cheapest car from the Merc stable costs over Rs 22 lakh, and prices could go upto a crore for a Mercedes CLK. Now, after spending a year in India, Huber has enough faith in the market to roll-out the Rs 3-crore Maybach. Ironically, Huber doesn't drive in India. "'The karting circuit is fine, but Indian roads are scary sometimes," he says. Well, in a Mercedes one has to be driven around, right?

SAMIR ARORA: The best laid plans of mice and men...

Bull Redux?

Just when Samir Arora's chances of making the switch from high-profile fund manager to owner-manager were starting to look bright, the capital markets watchdog, SEBI decided to throw in a spanner in the works, and barred him from dealing in securities. The 41-year-old former CIO of Alliance Capital faces charges of insider trading and attempting to manipulate the bidding process to his own advantage, charges that date back to the time he tried to buy out the company's Indian arm. This could hold up his plans to team up with Rana Talwar's Sabre Capital Worldwide to set up an asset management company in India. That's till August 28, when he appears before SEBI for a personal hearing.

-Compiled by T.R. Vivek contributed by Roshni Jayakar, Kushan Mitra and Abir Pal