India Today is the leading news magazine and most widely read publication in India. The magazine’s leadership is unquestioned, so much so that India Today is what Indian journalism is judged by, for its integrity and ability to bring unbiased and incisive perspective to arguably the most dynamic, yet perplexing, region in the world. Breaking news and shaping opinion, it is now a household name and the flagship brand of India’s leading multidimensional media group. Additionally, the weekly brings with it a range supplements like Women, Home, Aspire, Spice and Simply which focus on style, health, education, fashion, etc. and Indian cities.

FROM THE EDITOR-IN-CHIEF

India Today

DRUMBEATS OF DESTINY • An event, a tragedy, failure or deprivation... anything can shape or alter the course of our lives. On the occasion of our 45th anniversary, we approach 45 achievers to find out what set them on their particular life journey and how they used it to achieve success in their chosen path

“The turning point in my and Reliance’s life was when India embraced economic reforms... • ...Liberalisation freed the suppressed entrepreneurial energies in our country and gave us the hum kisi se kam nahin spirit”

“I had no choice but to grow up fast… • …when my father died. At the age of 28, I had to run the businesses he had built”

“My professor advised me to join MIT... • ...but I was too ashamed to tell him I did not know about the college. A friend told me it was the Madras Institute of Technology”

“‘That motor garage is no place for you’... • ...is what Bimalda said to me. Nobody had spoken to me like that before. He was like a father. He extended his hand and picked me up—it transformed my life”

“The first time I went into a 10-day silence... • ...it was life-altering for me. To find oneself, one has to find silence”

“I inherited my father’s responsibilities, not privileges… • …but what I learnt from him was how to interact with people and deal with their problems effectively and efficiently”

“I started writing to escape the monotony… • … of working in an international bank. It was not meant to launch me on an author’s career”

“There was nobody to run the business... • ...and so I had to leave Stanford without completing my degree”

“I worked among the poor families in Kalighat... • ...along with Mother Teresa’s missionaries and it was an eye-opening experience for me”

“At 19, I began with selling metal scrap in Mumbai… • …I’d spend half a day at banks to get cheques given by clients cleared, but it taught me to take risks”

“Working along with Gandhians for migrant refugees… • …from East Pakistan around the 1971 war gave me a deep sense of satisfaction”

“A bullet hit my ankle and shrapnel grazed my hand... • …and I was told my days in the army are over”

“I was the first to make push button phones in India... • ...in 1982 and that’s when my romance with telecom started. We soon started making answering machines, faxes and cordless phones. It phenomenally altered my personal journey”

“We were accidental entrepreneurs... • ...but we kept doing what we wanted to do, and things started falling into place”

“I had everything in LA... • ...but I felt if I did not come back soon, my kids would start calling me ‘uncle’. So, I came back in 2015”

“Many thought I was a kid, what would I know… • …when I bought Nicholas Labs for Rs 16.5 crore in 1988”

“Mine was a debut one could only dream of... • …I was extremely raw, but Shah Rukh Khan and Farah Khan held my hand and guided me throughout the entire process”

“While my family would scold Buddha... • …the village boy who worked for us, for reporting late some winter days, they would urge me to be snug under my quilt. I could...