A Peculiar Person I Met
A peculiar person I met
“Humble beginnings seldom pay”- When I was traveling to Mumbai from Vadodara by train during last summer vacation along with my parents, met one young man who was sitting opposite to my seat. He was looking good and obviously confident also.
After passing few minutes he asked about me and thus started our interaction. He was none other than Mr. Sarath Babu, who is known as a “mealion”boy. As mentioned in starting, “Humble beginnings seldom pay”. But E Sarath Babu will not buy that. For this 28-year-old, rags-to-riches are not just another adage. It’s his very foundation of success. From a slum in Chennai to the top echelons of academia with an enrolment in chemical engineering at BITS Pilani and IIM-A, and now as the steward of his Food King Catering business, Sarath has come a long way. His humility perhaps made him reject several high-brow offers from MNCs after his MBA. That, in a way, was the genesis of Food King Catering—with paltry Rs 2,000 seed money.
I was really impressed by his politeness; simplicity and clarity about his way carry forward in life. He told me that today, his food business spans six locations with a Rs.9-crore turnover and have a plan to increase the same to Rs.20-crore by end of the year. For Sarath, his mother, who once sold idlis on the pavements of Chennai and worked as an ayah, is a pillar of strength. “Her sacrifice eggs me on”, says Sarath. Apart from bringing up four children, Sarath’s mother worked as a cook for the mid-day meal scheme for 11 years and got paid just a rupee each day.
He was really struggled during his study period and only source of income was his mother’s income. He was well aware that he should do very well in his studies and get sufficient income for him as well his family. He studied hard and completed his engineering and further MBA from IIM Ahmedabad.
It was the real example of success which is over coming inadequate resources. I remember that often we used to misuse
“Humble beginnings seldom pay”- When I was traveling to Mumbai from Vadodara by train during last summer vacation along with my parents, met one young man who was sitting opposite to my seat. He was looking good and obviously confident also.
After passing few minutes he asked about me and thus started our interaction. He was none other than Mr. Sarath Babu, who is known as a “mealion”boy. As mentioned in starting, “Humble beginnings seldom pay”. But E Sarath Babu will not buy that. For this 28-year-old, rags-to-riches are not just another adage. It’s his very foundation of success. From a slum in Chennai to the top echelons of academia with an enrolment in chemical engineering at BITS Pilani and IIM-A, and now as the steward of his Food King Catering business, Sarath has come a long way. His humility perhaps made him reject several high-brow offers from MNCs after his MBA. That, in a way, was the genesis of Food King Catering—with paltry Rs 2,000 seed money.
I was really impressed by his politeness; simplicity and clarity about his way carry forward in life. He told me that today, his food business spans six locations with a Rs.9-crore turnover and have a plan to increase the same to Rs.20-crore by end of the year. For Sarath, his mother, who once sold idlis on the pavements of Chennai and worked as an ayah, is a pillar of strength. “Her sacrifice eggs me on”, says Sarath. Apart from bringing up four children, Sarath’s mother worked as a cook for the mid-day meal scheme for 11 years and got paid just a rupee each day.
He was really struggled during his study period and only source of income was his mother’s income. He was well aware that he should do very well in his studies and get sufficient income for him as well his family. He studied hard and completed his engineering and further MBA from IIM Ahmedabad.
It was the real example of success which is over coming inadequate resources. I remember that often we used to misuse