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People
Even as she edits the glamorous fashion magazine, Gladrags,
her feet are firmly on ground-reality. Maureen Wadia, 52 -- wife of Nusli
Wadia, the CEO of the Rs 1,133-crore Bombay Dyeing -- is busy working at the Wadia Women's
and Wadia Children's Hospitals in Mumbai. Both are over 70 years old, and her first
assignment, as their director, was to auction off paintings |
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Ten years ago, he quit corporate India in response to
an ''inner call.'' And Pradeep Kashyap, 48, the founder of Marketing And
Research Team (MART), has notched up more aces on his khadi sleeve than many a marketing
pro. After pioneering the Gram Shri Melas, and marketing Krishak Bandhu -- a cheap,
foot-operated water-pump -- mart recently won a competitive pitch against ORG-MARG, imrb,
and aims Research for a World Bank-funded project to develop the infrastructure in the
haats in 15 districts of Uttar Pradesh, and to work out a plan for developing
income-generating projects for 40,000 women there. Says Pradeep: ''Explaining rural
marketing to city-slicker marketers, I felt like Neil Armstrong must have felt after
returning from the moon '' Well, let's just say that both did reach for the skies 
He began as a laboratory assistant. And
today heads the Rs 1,300-crore Nirma. For Karsanbhai Patel, 53 -- the
creator of one of the largest detergent brands in the world -- awards are routine. Last
month, the Gujarat Chamber of Commerce & Industry (GCCI) felicitated him with the 1998
Gujarat Businessman Of The Year Award. The third in a row, Karsanbhai also won the
Federation of Association of Small Scale Industries of India's Udyog Ratna, and the GCCI's
Outstanding Industrialist Award in recent years. Says he: ''It's not my award. It is an
award to the wisdom of the Indian consumer.'' Truly, a swadeshi victory his daughter would
have been proud of 
First, it was Sylvestor Stallone, Bruce
Willis, and Arnold Schwarzenegger with Planet Hollywood. Then, it was Sanjay Dutt,
Govinda, Salman Khan, Karisma Kapoor, and Mahima Choudhary with India Talkies. And now, it
is Gulshan Grover, 39, who has teamed up with Jackie Shroff, Anil Kapoor,
Shah Rukh Khan, Juhi Chawla, and Manisha Koirala to set up Stars In Business, which will
open a chain of restaurants. Christened Movie Magic, they will, the stars willing,
commence operations by end-1998. Drawls the baddie: ''We are all very serious about it. I
myself come from a business family, and have some experience in running a business.''
Watch out for the real taste of reel-life Bollywood. 
donated by M.F. Hussain to raise money for them.
Moreover, she has already come up with her next project: to open an aids centre in the
same area by May this year. Between running a lifestyle magazine, looking after the
advertising of Bombay Dyeing (she has been doing this of the last 15 years), and charity
work, which does she enjoy the most? ''My work at the hospital,'' says Maureen. Bravo.