News

The best of BusinessLine

60s as the new 20s: How ‘oldies’ give youngsters a run for their money!

Ahmedabad | Updated on January 30, 2019 Published on July 12, 2017

When they crossed 60, they did not just contemplate a blissful, relaxed life with their grandchildren. They recharged their batteries and turned into successful entrepreneurs, pursuing their old passions with renewed vigour.

Meet the New Age entrepreneurs, all 60-plus, with the zest of competitors in their 20s. And, in their second innings, they are giving young start-up founders a run for their money.

Sixty-three-year-old Dinesh B Singh, Founder of Navrasa Duende, a start-up for all forms and genres of global arts on a single platform, is creating a 100-acre campus of its own nearly 70 km from Bengaluru. “It will be like a Disneyland for all art-loving age-groups from 12 years and above. The first phase is expected to be ready in two years,” he told BusinessLine.

An engineer-technocrat-entrepreneur and connoisseur-patron of the arts, he revived his old passions as he felt corporate houses did not take the arts as a serious business. His start-up is not only an event organiser but also a production house that has put together successful events as well as curated and promoted commercial and niche arts from around the world.

Navrasa Duende is part of the Rs 800-crore Energo Group. “We don’t need funds right now but may consider hitting the capital market two years later,” he added.

Singh, Founder and MD of Energo Engineering Projects Ltd (EEPL), was mentored in his younger days by doyens of arts such as S.N. Mehdi, President of the Indian Progressive Theatres Association (IPTA), and B.M. Shah, former Director of the National School of Drama (NSD).

Since its inception in December 2016, Navrasa organised its first cultural initiative with music legend Pandit Jasraj on his 87th birthday, and a screening festival for the 1930s movies of Franz Kafka and Alfred Hitchcock. In September 2017, it will bring the Swan Lake Ballet to India for the first time and sign out for the year with a carnival in December.

Vinay Sehgal, 67, founded his start-up LURAP (abbreviated from Love UR APpearance!) in 2015 to offer a “virtual tailor at your doorstep” to plus-size women. “It is the first online women’s shopping brand offering 21 sizes and styles in each garment,” he said. From his experience in an export venture in garments, home furnishings and leather products, he decided to explore the niche market for plus-size and customized clothing.

“In online markets, clothing is the dominant segment and women are the largest segment of customers. But they lack quality or customised clothing. “We are now considering plus-size and customised clothing for men as well.”

About plus-sized women’s choices for clothes that fit them well, Sehgal said it is a “difficult” job. “For a single garment, we have to make some 125 patterns.” The startup is about to break-even in the current quarter as it expands to make 15,000 garments a month.

Former banker Sudarshan Motwani, founder-CEO of BookMyForex.com, was associated with travel-related foreign exchange and remittance business for 30 years when he retired from ING Vysya Bank. A pioneer, he conceptualised, introduced and headed foreign exchange services (FES) as a new revenue line at four different banks in India.

Founded in 2014, BookMyForex broke even in July 2015. “Now, investors are on board, and we can think about scaling up operations. Our turnover in 2016-17 is expected to be around Rs 1,500 crore,” he said.

Published on July 12, 2017

A letter from the Editor

Dear Readers,

The coronavirus crisis has changed the world completely in the last few months. All of us have been locked into our homes, economic activity has come to a near standstill. Everyone has been impacted.

Including your favourite business and financial newspaper. Our printing and distribution chains have been severely disrupted across the country, leaving readers without access to newspapers. Newspaper delivery agents have also been unable to service their customers because of multiple restrictions.

In these difficult times, we, at BusinessLine have been working continuously every day so that you are informed about all the developments – whether on the pandemic, on policy responses, or the impact on the world of business and finance. Our team has been working round the clock to keep track of developments so that you – the reader – gets accurate information and actionable insights so that you can protect your jobs, businesses, finances and investments.

We are trying our best to ensure the newspaper reaches your hands every day. We have also ensured that even if your paper is not delivered, you can access BusinessLine in the e-paper format – just as it appears in print. Our website and apps too, are updated every minute, so that you can access the information you want anywhere, anytime.

But all this comes at a heavy cost. As you are aware, the lockdowns have wiped out almost all our entire revenue stream. Sustaining our quality journalism has become extremely challenging. That we have managed so far is thanks to your support. I thank all our subscribers – print and digital – for your support.

I appeal to all or readers to help us navigate these challenging times and help sustain one of the truly independent and credible voices in the world of Indian journalism. Doing so is easy. You can help us enormously simply by subscribing to our digital or e-paper editions. We offer several affordable subscription plans for our website, which includes Portfolio, our investment advisory section that offers rich investment advice from our highly qualified, in-house Research Bureau, the only such team in the Indian newspaper industry.

A little help from you can make a huge difference to the cause of quality journalism!

Support Quality Journalism
This article is closed for comments.
Please Email the Editor