Daring, Driven And Different

If restaurateur Shafeena Yusuff Ali, Founder, Tablez Food Company, has the entrepreneurial spirit in her genes, Aditi Balbir as founder of V Resorts, started from scratch. Sisters Pooja Shetty-Deora and Aarti Shetty of Adlabs Imagica want to change the face of entertainment destinations, while Neha Motwani, of Fitternity, is redefining the rules of fitness. Passionate, brimming with ideas, our 10 business women show us what it means to take challenges head on.

- Asmita Bakshi

The coastal city of Kochi is known for its port and cantilevered Chinese fishing nets. When it became a port in 1341, opening its harbour to Arab, Chinese and European merchants, one could never imagine the rapid growth as one of the most sought after tourist spots in the country. And today, any travel blog worth its salt will tell you that aside from the usual haunts near Fort Kochi and its quaint bars and restaurants on the waterfront serving the most delectable Keralite curries, there exists India’s second largest mall, the Lulu Mall, an outpost of a group by the same name founded by MA Yusuff Ali in Abu Dhabi. Ali, who is originally from Trichur, near Kochi, is now worth a whopping US $5 billion and his rags-to-riches story is both inspiring and well-documented.