Madhur Jaffrey - Lady's fingers!!

Having divorced Saeed Jaffrey, Madhur packed their three children off to India only to stay back and take her chances in New York. With no steady income, Madhur stared at a life of hardship as she begun to put the pieces of her life together.

The nostalgia of home and the taste of home cooked food forced Madhur to cook Indian meals for herself. Little did she know that this would one day become her claim to fame. She is a chef and a cookbook writer of International repute. However, she is a lady of many talents. Her talent extends to acting, writing and TV presenting.

As a young girl, Madhur went to UK to learn dramatics. After graduating she headed for the 'big apple' she married her Indian actor boyfriend, Saeed Jaffrey. There, the Jaffrey's met big time moviemakers James Ivory and Ismail Merchant. Madhur's first break came in "Shakespeare Wallah" which won her Best Actress Award at the Berlin Film Festival in 1965. She went on to act in well-known films like "The Assam Garden", "A perfect Murder", "Six Degrees of Separation", "Wolf" and "Vanya on 42nd Street". And, most recently, "Cotton Mary" and "Chutney Popcorn"

Soon Jaffrey became a household name with her cookery show on BBC. She came to be known as "Queen of Indian cuisine". Side by side, she also wrote several cookbooks. Madhur's expertise extends to Thai, Korean, Japanese, Chinese, Indonesian, French, Italian and, of course, Indian epicurean delights.

Madhur is settled in New York with her second husband of thirty years, Sanford Allen, a classical violinist.

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Manu Chandaria - King of the Jungle
Chairman and CEO of Comcraft group, Kenya

The king of the African business jungle, Manu Chandaria, was recently hailed as one of the most respected CEO's in the country.

Involved in Aluminum, computer hardware, plastics, software and steel, the Comcraft Group has its reach in countries of Africa, India, Australia and South America.

Manu Chandaria's father shifted to East Africa as early as 1916. He started off his own retail trade in provisions. This initial foothold is what paved the way for the Chandaria business to expand into a global conglomerate.

Manu's father was a great believer in quality education. Manu was educated in India and USA to become a qualified engineer. After he completed his study, it was time for him to return to Kenya and get involved in the flourishing family business. The Chandarias then slowly started acquiring properties, which helped them to step into the manufacturing industry. In 1950, the family undertook manufacture in steel and aluminum.

This was also the time when Comcraft established its presence in the neighboring countries of East Africa. In the 1960's Comcraft successfully reached in Zambia, Ethiopia, Congo, Nigeria, India and elsewhere. The end of the decade was marked by entries in other continents like Australia and South America, thus becoming an international business enterprise of massive dimensions.

Like father, like son. Manu Chandaria emulates his father in work discipline and perseverance. At 71, he believes there is no end to achieving, here is to businessman par excellence!

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Max Vadukul - Shooting

The fashion world loves him! One of the most sought after fashion photographers of the millennium. Name a world-class fashion magazine and his worked for them. Name a designer and he has worked for them. Just to give you an idea, his list of admirers comprise of clientele like Yohji Yamamoto, Chloe, Emporio Armani, Commes des Garçons, Sonia Rykiel and Nike.

He is Max Vadukul, born Indian parents in Kenya. His travelled around the world before moving to New York where he was appointed staff photographer of The New Yorker, shooting portraits of some of most famous artists, politicians and other distinguished people who make up the social and cultural landscape.

The year 2000 saw the release of his book titled "Max: Photographs by Max Vadukul". It is a collection of 250 photographs of artists, politicians and celebrities such as Donald Trump, John Waters, Fiona Apple, Salman Rushdie, Mick Jagger, Keith Richards, Mother Teresa, Missy Elliott, John Waters, Fiona Apple, Tom Hanks and Arnold Schwarzenegger amongst others.

Despite his strong western influence, he still retains Indian values and given a chance he bursts into Gujarati with his family members. A great admirer of Krishnamurti, he imparts his teaching to his children. He believes in "never seeing limits" but going as forward as you can.

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Melvin Durai

Melvin Durai, an Indiana-based writer and humorist, was born in Tamil Nadu, brought up in Zambia and is a U.S. resident since 1980s.

Durai's humour columns are carried by newspapers and websites in America and include India Times, India Tribune, Voice of Asia and Public Opinion in Chambersburg, Pennsylvania. His columns reach thousands of people who subscribe to it over email.

He is an Accounts and Natural Science major from Messiah College, Pennsylvania, after which he pursued an MBA degree from York College of Pennsylvania. Thereafter he completed the journalism program at Towson State University in Maryland. His career took off when he got himself a job at Public Opinion, the newspaper in Chambersburg, Pennsylvania.

During his six years as a business reporter and general assignment reporter, he won writing awards in the Best of Gannett contest, as well as an Outstanding Achievement in Writing Award in 1998.

However it was not before 1994 that he discovered his potential as a humorist when Melvin wrote a 'humour column about women wearing men's underwear as tops'. The response was overwhelming and readers wanted more of it. Its then that he started writing a regular humour column. His future plans include publishing a collection of his best columns.

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