NEW DELHI: What connects the creators of Hotmail, MapmyIndia, Onida and Buddh International Circuit?
They all graduated from BITS Pilani as did Maharashtra Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan, founder of SQL Star International Ltd Ashok Kumar Agarwal and filmmaker Mani Shankar.
A new book, “BITS of Success: Inspiring Stories of BITS Pilani Alumni,” by the institute’s alumni Harsh Bhargava, Kinnera Murthy and Anu Khendry takes the reader through the journeys of 50 individuals who realized their dreams through perseverance and determination, be it as entrepreneurs, technologists, scientists, teachers or artists.
Creators of Hotmail Sabeer Bhatia, FoodKing Saratbabu Elumalai, MapmyIndia Rakesh Verma, Onida Gulu Mirchandani and Buddh International Circuit Manoj Gaur, to name a few, were all driven by the passion to realize their dreams.
Bhatia studied in BITS Pilani for two years before moving to Caltech on a scholarship.
Elumalai, who as a boy helped his mother sell idlis on the streets of Chennai, is, today, living his dream of attempting to make India hunger-free. His desire to tackle his two major concerns – empty stomachs and jobless youth in the country – led him to set up a successful food chain which now provides food and employment to lakhs of people across India.
According to Elumalai, “Entrepreneurship is like a Japanese bamboo tree. In the first six years, it grows only six inches and then in six months, it shoots up to 90 feet.”
Mirchandani, who graduated in mechanical engineering from BITS Pilani, founded Mirc Electronics to manufacture television sets under the brand name Onida along with his brother Sonu and Vijay J Mansukhani. -PTI
