Not all of Mumbai's stars are from Bollywood. And not all of the vibrancy of West India is restricted to aamchi - yet cosmopolitan - Mumbai. There are innumerable West-side stories waiting to be told.

If the dabba-wallahs of Mumbai made news across the world, the White Revolution in Gujarat woke up the world with the aroma of a warm glass of milk.

Oxford of the East

The sands of Goa continue to be a mesmerising magnet for leisure globe trotters, even as a vibrant Gujarat woos foreign investment successfully. Pune, the ‘ Oxford of the East', continues to attract students from across the world.

Meanwhile, the city that never sleeps continues relentlessly in its leadership role as the financial capital of India. From the late Dhirubhai Ambani to Lata Mangeshkar, there is no dearth of iconic achievers from the West who have put India at the centre of the world's attention.

Surely, Mr Ratan Tata, Sachin Tendulkar, Mr Narendra Modi and Amitabh Bachchan have, in their own ways, done the same.

There are icons, and then there are global icons. The task of identifying icons by segment is unenviable, and as Navjot Singh Sidhu says, ‘In India, if there are 10 people, there will be 20 opinions'.

While the four icons we have zoomed in on in this special feature are special, and that needs no explanation, by no means is this a ranking or rating or poll result.

We have merely chosen to celebrate the success of four inspiring individuals from the vibrant West, one each from the corporate world, sports, politics and cinema. None of them needs an introduction.

We have also chosen to get perspectives from those who have observed these four global Indians for a while, with some having worked closely with their subject of study in this feature.

We're grateful to these gentlemen for lending our readers an insider's perspective on four fantastic specimens of West India's vibrancy.

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