When Sarath Babu, at the age of 27,, graduated as a top student from the Indian Institute of Management in the city of Ahmedabad, he stunned the business world by turning down a number of job offers that would have made him a wealthy man. Instead, he took a risk by starting his own catering company. A young businessman taking a risk might not seem so surprising; Sarath Babu, however, had come from a life of poverty.
I was born and brought up in a slum in the city of Chennai, south east India, with two older sisters and two younger brothers. My mother was our only support. Every day she held down three jobs - selling breakfast on the streets in the morning, working as a dinner lady at a school in the afternoon, and teaching adults in the evenings. She made just one rupee a day for six people. Every morning, Sarath Babu helped his mother sell breakfast on the streets of Chennai, and every evening he did his homework in the dark.
I got a good score in the tenth standard exam. However, the fees for the eleventh grade were as much as three thousand rupees. This was a lot of money for my family.
To save for these tuition fees, Sarath Babu took a book binding job for the summer. At one point, he even employed twenty other children. It could be said this was his first entrepreneurial experience! On finishing school, Sarath was accepted onto an engineering course at a local college. Money, however, again proved to be the problem.
The fees were around twenty eight thousand rupees. One of my sisters, who was now married, had to pawn her jewelry to lend me the money. Later, I got a scholarship and was able to pay her back but still, even simple things like soap or toothpaste were a big expense. Looking at the other students, most of whom came from well off families, I realized how different their lives were from mine.
While studying for his university entrance exams, Sarath Babu read that thirty per cent of India's population didn't have enough money to eat two meals a day. He remembered how it felt to be hungry, and wondered what he could do to help. He dreamed of starting his own business and providing a good standard of living for his employees. Yet here he was, borrowing money to pay for his studies, and unable to buy his mother a new house!
I worked at a software company for thirty months to clear my debts. After that, I passed the college entrance exams and got a place at the Indian Institute of Management in Ahmedabad. My studies went from strength to strength and, two years later, although I was getting lots of good job offers from some famous companies, I never forgot my dream.
After graduation, Sarath Babu took his biggest gamble: turning down the big job offers, and starting his own catering company with a bank loan.
My catering business began with one small office and three employees. Our first order was selling snacks and tea to a local software company. In our first month, we made thirty five thousand rupees. Now, my company has an annual turnover of sixty million rupees. However, money and fame are not the most important things in my life.
A happy man has family and friends, and knows in his heart he lives his life with kindness and honesty. This is how I tried to live when I was poor, and it's still how I try to live now.