Despite his yogic serenity, Suresh Bharwani,
45, is still a little overcome. Eight years back, when the CEO of the Rs 12-crore
Mumbai-based Jetking International Institute of Technology introduced yoga in his
organisation, little did he know that he'd be rubbing shoulders with the Who's Who of
international management. Last June, at the Training '97 Conference & Expo at the
Georgia World Congress Centre, Atlanta, Georgia, Bharwani happened to get one of the
organisers into a two-minute meditation trance which, instead, lasted five minutes.
Promptly, the organiser invited Bharwani to give his own 29-minute session on Self
Mastery Through Yoga at the Training '98 Conference & Expo between February
15-19, where presentations were also made by management guru Tom Peters, Ken
Blanchard--co-author of Gung Ho--and Richard "Skip" LeFauve, president,
General Motors. Says Bharwani: "The feeling was great." A subliminal levitation?
After having been through
pain, he's now healing people. Prashant Chandra Sen, 65, is no longer the
Peerless Sen he used to be. After being eased out of Peerless General Finance &
Investment Co. (asset base: Rs 6,000 crore), everyone predicted that Sen would retire to a
quiet, private life, which would allow him to cultivate his old passions for tantra and
astrophysics. But Sen proved them wrong. Towards the end of 1996, he bought a medicine
shop in south Calcutta, which belonged to a family that had fallen on bad times, and was
unable to run it properly. Sen took over, and today, he's happy selling prescriptions.
Says Sen: "It's a good business to be in. The products help people lead better
lives." Wish he could heal Peerless too
Earlier, her home was her
canvas. Now, the world will be. For Preeti Vyas Giannetti, 40, the CEO of
Vyas Giannetti Creatives (1996-97 billing: Rs 7 crore), the colours of life are just
beginning to brighten up. The Rs 6,002-crore cigarette giant ITC approached her to do four
paintings which will, subtly, depict its latest launch of the bat brand, Bensen &
Hedges--the paintings will be used as promotional material. Since Preeti is no
Hussain--rather, she's known as a creative director in the ad industry--it was her
paintings at home that landed her this unique offer. One of her guests, who was quite
taken in by the abstract-art displays that adorn her Mumbai bungalow in the northern
suburbs, happened to recommend her name to ITC when the company was looking for artists.
ITC was pleased, and, moreover, what was better than a painter who was also an expert at
communications? Says Preeti: "It was the ultimate accolade to be actually seen as an
artist. It is something very close to my talent--the one side of me that gives me
incredible delight." A brush with destiny?
He's a teacher with a purpose. Sunil
K. Handa, 42, the CEO of the Ahmedabad-based Core Emballage (manufacturer of
corrugated boards), who also takes a course on entrepreneurship at the Indian Institute of
Management, Ahmedabad, wrote to 100 of his former students to set up the Eklavya Education
Foundation. A no-profits, no-loss endeavour, Eklavya runs a school for children till class
III, and a training academy for `Teachers for Tomorrow'. Recently, the Eklavya team--which
constitutes the best professionals from blue-chips--visited 150 schools in India and
abroad, and arrived at a gameplan for it to be an institution that will run the best
schools in India and the world. Says Handa, of his team: "I asked them if they were
ready to quit the rat race and help me." The rebel with a cause?
Despite his yogic serenity, Suresh Bharwani,
45, is still a little overcome. Eight years back, when the CEO of the Rs 12-crore
Mumbai-based Jetking International Institute of Technology introduced yoga in his
organisation, little did he know that he'd be rubbing shoulders with the Who's Who of
international management. Last June, at the Training '97 Conference & Expo at the
Georgia World Congress Centre, Atlanta, Georgia, Bharwani happened to get one of the
organisers into a two-minute meditation trance which, instead, lasted five minutes.
Promptly, the organiser invited Bharwani to give his own 29-minute session on Self
Mastery Through Yoga at the Training '98 Conference & Expo between February
15-19, where presentations were also made by management guru Tom Peters, Ken
Blanchard--co-author of Gung Ho--and Richard "Skip" LeFauve, president,
General Motors. Says Bharwani: "The feeling was great." A subliminal levitation?
After having been through
pain, he's now healing people. Prashant Chandra Sen, 65, is no longer the
Peerless Sen he used to be. After being eased out of Peerless General Finance &
Investment Co. (asset base: Rs 6,000 crore), everyone predicted that Sen would retire to a
quiet, private life, which would allow him to cultivate his old passions for tantra and
astrophysics. But Sen proved them wrong. Towards the end of 1996, he bought a medicine
shop in south Calcutta, which belonged to a family that had fallen on bad times, and was
unable to run it properly. Sen took over, and today, he's happy selling prescriptions.
Says Sen: "It's a good business to be in. The products help people lead better
lives." Wish he could heal Peerless too 
Earlier, her home was her
canvas. Now, the world will be. For Preeti Vyas Giannetti, 40, the CEO of
Vyas Giannetti Creatives (1996-97 billing: Rs 7 crore), the colours of life are just
beginning to brighten up. The Rs 6,002-crore cigarette giant ITC approached her to do four
paintings which will, subtly, depict its latest launch of the bat brand, Bensen &
Hedges--the paintings will be used as promotional material. Since Preeti is no
Hussain--rather, she's known as a creative director in the ad industry--it was her
paintings at home that landed her this unique offer. One of her guests, who was quite
taken in by the abstract-art displays that adorn her Mumbai bungalow in the northern
suburbs, happened to recommend her name to ITC when the company was looking for artists.
ITC was pleased, and, moreover, what was better than a painter who was also an expert at
communications? Says Preeti: "It was the ultimate accolade to be actually seen as an
artist. It is something very close to my talent--the one side of me that gives me
incredible delight." A brush with destiny? 
He's a teacher with a purpose. Sunil
K. Handa, 42, the CEO of the Ahmedabad-based Core Emballage (manufacturer of
corrugated boards), who also takes a course on entrepreneurship at the Indian Institute of
Management, Ahmedabad, wrote to 100 of his former students to set up the Eklavya Education
Foundation. A no-profits, no-loss endeavour, Eklavya runs a school for children till class
III, and a training academy for `Teachers for Tomorrow'. Recently, the Eklavya team--which
constitutes the best professionals from blue-chips--visited 150 schools in India and
abroad, and arrived at a gameplan for it to be an institution that will run the best
schools in India and the world. Says Handa, of his team: "I asked them if they were
ready to quit the rat race and help me." The rebel with a cause?