Top Stories

Where on earth does a 16-year-old Gujarati boy — who sold 'pakoras' to tourists at Mount Girnar — go on to become Dhirubhai Ambani? Where does a small-time Chinese food chef, who can't even afford a portfolio shoot, become superstar Akshay Kumar? Where does the daughter of a clerk in the telecommunications department become the chief minister of Uttar Pradesh? Not once, not twice, but four times. Where does a boy from a Chennai slum, who helps his mother sell idlis, go on to become IIM Ahmedabad graduate Sarathbabu? No prizes for guessing this one. It happens only in India.

Danny Boyle may not have known a Chennai youngster while making his Academy Award-nominated film Slumdog Millionaire. But he could very well have made the film on 27-year-old Sarath Babu. And, that could only have made the film more engrossing, inspiring, and even more realistic.

Consider problems as opportunities, E.Sarath Babu, one of the youngest Chief Executive Officers India has ever seen, advises the youngsters.

When 27-year old Sarathbabu graduated from the Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad, he created quite a stir by refusing a job that offered him a huge salary. He preferred to start his own enterprise -- Foodking Catering Service -- in Ahmedabad.

He was inspired by his mother who once sold idlis on the pavements of Chennai, to educate him and his siblings. It was a dream come true, when Infosys co-founder N R Narayana Murthy lit the traditional lamp and inaugurated Sarathbabu's enterprise.

Sarathbabu was in Chennai, his hometown, a few days ago, to explore the possibility of starting a Foodking unit in the city and also to distribute the Ullas Trust Scholarships instituted by the IT firm Polaris to 2,000 poor students in corporation schools.

Childhood in a slum
He was born and brought up in a slum in Madipakkam in Chennai. With two elder sisters and two younger brothers and his mother was the sole breadwinner of the family. It was really tough for her to bring up five kids on her meager salary.

As she had studied till the tenth standard, she got a job under the mid-day meal scheme of the Tamil Nadu government in a school at a salary of Rs 30 a month. She made just one rupee a day for six people.
So, she sold idlis in the mornings. She would then work for the mid-day meal at the school during daytime. In the evenings, she taught at the adult education programme of the Indian government.
She, thus, did three different jobs to bring us up and educate us. Although she didn't say explicitly that we should study well, we knew she was struggling hard to send us to school.he was determined that her hard work should not go in vain.

Sarath was a topper throughout his school days. In the mornings, he went out to sell idlis because people in slums did not come out of their homes to buy idlis. For kids living in a slum, idlis for breakfast is something very special.

Sarath mother was not aware of institutions like the Birla Institute of Technology and Science, Pilani, or the Indian Institutes of Technology. She only wanted to educate us so that we got a good job. he didn't know what he wanted to do at that time because in his friend-circle, nobody talked about higher education or preparing for the IIT-JEE.
When he constantly worry about the next square meal, he cant dream of becoming a doctor or an engineer. The only thing that was on his mind was to get a good job because his mother was struggling a lot.

he got very good marks in the 10th standard exam. It was the most critical moment of his life. Till the 10th, there was no special fee but for the 11th and the 12th, the fees were Rs 2,000-3,000.

He did book-binding work during the summer vacation and accumulated money for his school fees. When he got plenty of work, he employed 20 other children and all of them did the work together. That was his first real job as an entrepreneur. Once he saw the opportunity, he continued with the work.

Life at BITS, Pilani
A classmate of him told him about BITS, Pilani. He was confident that he Should get admission, as he was the topper. He also told him that on completion (of studies at Pilani), he will definitely get a job.
When he got the admission, he had mixed feelings. On one hand he was excited that for the first time he was going out of Chennai, but there was also a sense of uncertainty.

The fees alone were around Rs 28,000, and he had to get around Rs 42,000. It was huge, huge money for him. And there was no one to help him. Just his  mother and sisters. One of his sisters -- they were all married by then -- pawned her jewellery and that's how he paid for the first semester.

Sarath mother then found out about an Indian government scholarship scheme. She sent him the application forms, On Appling for the scholarship, and he was successful. So, after the first semester, it was the scholarship that helped him through.

It also helped him to pay his debt (to the sister who had pawned her jewellery). he then borrowed money from his other sister and repaid her when the next scholarship came.

The scholarship, however, covered only the tuition fees. What about the hostel fees and food? Even small things like a washing soap or a toothbrush or a tube of toothpaste was a burden. So, he borrowed more at high rates of interest. The debt grew to a substantial amount by the time he reached the fourth year.

To put it mildly, He was absolutely shocked. Till then, he had moved only with students from poor families. At Pilani, all the students were from the upper class or upper middle class families. Their lifestyle was totally different from him. The topics they discussed were alien to him. They would talk about the good times they had in school.
On the other hand, his school years were a big struggle. There was this communication problem also as he was not conversant in English then.

He  just kept quiet and observed them. he concentrated only on his studies because back home so many people had sacrificed for him. And, it took a really long time -- till the end of the first year -- to make friends.

he became a little more confident and started opening up. he had worked really hard for the engineering exhibition during the first year. he did a lot of labour-intensive work like welding and cutting, though his subject was chemical engineering. his seniors appreciated him.
In his second year also, he worked really hard for the engineering exhibition. This time, his juniors appreciated him, and they became his close friends, so close that they would be at his beck and call.

In the third year, when there was an election for the post of the co-ordinator for the exhibition, his juniors wanted him to contest. Sarath was unanimously elected. That was his first experience of being in the limelight. It was also quite an experience to handle around 100 students.

Seeing his work, slowly his batch mates also came to the fold. All of them said he lead the team very well.
They also told him that he could be a good manager and asked him to do MBA. That was the first time sarath heard about something called MBA. sarath asked them about the best institution in India. They said, the Indian Institutes of Management. Then, he decided if he was going to study MBA, it should be at one of the IIMs, and nowhere else.

Inspiration to be an Entrepreneur
It was while preparing for the Common Admission Test that heread in the papers that 30 per cent of India's population does not get two meals a day. he know how it feels to be hungry. What should be done to help them, he wondered.
He also read about Infosys and Narayana Murthy, Reliance and Ambani. Reliance employed 20,000-25,000 people at that time, and Infosys, around 15,000. When a single entrepreneur like Ambani employed 25,000 people, he was supporting the family, of four or five, of each employee. So he was taking care of 100,000 people indirectly. he felt he too, should become an entrepreneur.

But, his mother was waiting for her engineer son to get a job, pay all the debts, build a pucca house and take care of her. And here he was dreaming about starting his own enterprise. he decided to go for a campus interview, and got a job with Polaris. he also sat for CAT but he failed to clear it in his  first attempt.

he worked for 30 months at Polaris. By then, he could pay off all the debts but hehadn't built a proper house for his mother. But he decided to pursue his dream. When he took CAT for the third time, he cleared it and got calls from all the six IIMs. he got admission at IIM, Ahmedabad.

Life at IIM
His college helped him to get a scholarship for the two years that he was at IIM. Unlike in BITS, he was more confident and life at IIM was fantastic. he took up a lot of responsibilities in the college. he was in the mess committee in the first year and in the second year; he was elected the mess secretary.

By the end of the second year, there were many lucrative job offers coming our way, but in his mind he was determined to start something on his own. But back home, he didn't have a house. It was a difficult decision to say 'no' to offers that gave you Rs 800,000 a year. But he was clear in his mind even while he knew the hard realities back home.

Yes, his mother had been an entrepreneur, and subconsciously, she must have inspired him. His  inspirations were also (Dhirubhai) Ambani and Narayana Murthy. he knew he  was not aiming at something unachievable.he got the courage from them to start his own enterprise.

Nobody at his institute discouraged him. In fact, at least 30-40 students at the IIM wanted to be entrepreneurs. And they used to discuss about ideas all the time. His  last option was to take up a job.

Foodking Catering Services Pvt Ltd
Sarath  mother is his first inspiration to start a food business. Remember he started his life selling idlis in his slum. Then of course, his experience as the mess secretary at IIM-A was the second inspiration. he must have handled at least a thousand complaints and a thousand suggestions at that time. Every time he solved a problem.

He  also felt there is a good opportunity in the food business. If you notice, a lot of people who work in the food business come from the weaker sections of the society.

his friends helped him with registering the company with a capital of Rs 100,000. Because of the IIM brand and also because of the media attention, he could take a loan from the bank without any problem.
When he  got the order from IIM, Ahmedabad, he  took a loan of Rs 11 lakhs (Rs 1.1 million) and started a kitchen. So, his initial capital was Rs 11.75 lakhs (Rs 1.17 million).

After months have passed, and now he have forty employees and four clients -- IIM Ahmedabad, Darpana Academy, Gujarat Energy Research Management Institute and System Plus.

In the first month of his operation ,he  earned around Rs 35,000. Now, the turnover is around Rs 250,000. The Chennai operations will start in another one months' time.

He did not expect this kind of exposure by the media for his venture or appreciation from people like his director at the IIM or Narayana Murthy.he was just doing what he wanted to do. But the exposure really helped him to  get orders, finance, everything.

The best compliments he received were from Narayana Murthy and his director at IIM, Ahmedabad. When he told him (IIM-A director) about his decision to start a company, he hugged him and wished him luck.

“Success is what we define it and not what others dictate,”