The man tipped by many to be ICICI bank CEO K.V. Kamath's successor, Nachiket Mor, has often described himself as an academic who is out to introduce order into the world. He will get another chance to hone this skill in September. The 39-year-old has won the 2004 Yale World Fellowship and will spend 15 weeks at the University with a clutch of emerging leaders from various backgrounds studying critical issues that face the world today. The group includes the deputy director of the Shanghai stock exchange, the founder of Israel's first legal advocacy group, and the principal advisor to the Prime Minister of Kosovo. It will be a change of scene for the IIM Ahmedabad, University of Pennsylvania alum who started his career as a management trainee in ICICI in 1987, and who now manages the corporate banking, government banking, and rural and micro finance portfolios at the universal bank. Now, he has almost become a universal citizen.

A Harmony For The Old

It started life as the furnishings sub-brand of Vimal, then Harmony took on a life of its own. First Tina Ambani, the Managing Trustee of the Dhirubhai Ambani Memorial Trust, extended it into an annual show that served as a springboard for young artists (with part of the proceeds earmarked for street children). Now, the 45-year-old Ambani has done better with a Harmony initiative for senior citizens that spans a monthly magazine, a website harmonyindia.org, and Harmony Interactive Centres. "The challenges are enormous," says Ambani referring to the statistic that the number of senior citizens in the country will increase from 77 million now to 137 million by 2021. We've no doubt she can address them.

Economist In Waiting

For 20 years V. Raghunathan taught accounts and finance to wannabe CEOs at Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad. Then, almost four years back, he decided to practice what he had preached for long, and made a shift to being a change management executive at ING Vysya Bank (then Vysya Bank). Now that his task is done, the 49-year-old (his designation at the bank reads President) wants to move on. "I am neither an ING-person, nor a banker," he smiles. "My strengths are change management and inculcating out-of-the-box thinking." Raghunathan hasn't decided what to do next, although he has received several offers to return to academia. "For the next 10 years, I would look at a macro economic role in developmental areas like primary education or healthcare," he says. Does North Block have any openings?

Actualisation Guru

Ever taken sort-your-life-out advice from a Uganda-born Canadian ex-lawyer who calls India "home" but has been away since 1976? Folks at Microsoft, IBM, and gm have. Robin Sharma, 39, hit big time with his self-transformation fable The Monk Who Sold His Ferrari, which, along with six other books of his, has sold over a million copies, mostly in America. Yet, he is offended when asked if he's in the business of selling Indian spirituality to the West. Rather, his two businesses are helping human beings live fulfilled lives and business folk run more successful businesses (he's also an executive coach). This he does by getting people to "press pause", "reflect", and pay attention to their own "silent whispers". His message: start leading an authentic life, stop betraying yourself. "Awareness precedes choice," he offers, "which precedes change."

Poison Pen

It is unlikely Suhel Seth maintains a live CV, but if he does, it is time the 41-year-old revisited it: to his existing list of vocations, ad man, theatre regular, TV celeb, and socialite at large, he can now add motion picture actor. That's right, the CEO of New Delhi-based Equus Red Cell, a WPP Group agency, is playing, not himself, but a acerbic and well-respected columnist in Mahesh Bhatt's Rog, slated for release in October. Seth is unusually reticent about the plot, but divulges that his character acquires murderous intentions after being spurned by leading lady Maya, played by South African supermodel Illene Hamam. "My only full time profession is advertising," says Seth. "Everything else is just a hobby." We would have never known.

Icarus Agenda

Success has given captain G.R. Gopinath, the Managing Director of Air Deccan, quite a thirst. For money that is. The man who runs India's first low-cost airline-its seven turbo-props fly 50 routes every day-is looking to raise $60 million (Rs 270 crore) to fund the acquisition of seven Airbus A320s. The 51-year-old captain hopes to raise the money by divesting 25-30 per cent of the company's equity. Meanwhile, he is thrilled by Air-India's decision to launch a low-cost airline. "This is a vindication of our model," he gushes. Still, we're sure he'd prefer a compliment in cash.

-Contributed by Roshni Jayakar, Aresh Shirali, Shailesh Dobhal and Venkatesha Babu