The Man,
Mr Sarath Babu, Founder & CEO of Foodking Catering, from helping his mother sell idlis on Chennai’s streets 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 a paltry Rs 2,000 seed money. Today, his food business spans six locations with Rs 9-crore turnover to boot and set to clock Rs 20 crore by year-end. For 28 year old Sarath, his mother, who once sold idlis on the pavements of Chennai and worked as an ayah, is a pillar of strength. A mother of 5 children, she earned to get her son, Sarath an education at BITS Pillani in Chemical Engineering.
During his graduation there, he managed the college canteen as he had a natural inclination and knack for food. He then worked in a software company for 3 years post which he went to IIM Ahmedabad and studied Industrial Training. It is during this time in year 2000 that he went to Bihar and came across a report that stated 30% of Indians are under the poverty line. This was an eye opener for Sarath who then decided to set up Food King. With Rs. 2000 as initial capital and one employee he set up Food king in the same year. Through Food King he desires to give quality employment to the poor.
In the next 5 years he wants Food King to be a source of employment for 50,000 people by opening 400-500 branches all over the countries. As of now there are 250 people in his company but the plans are big. Despite all his success, he is a simple man at heart and continues to live in a hut. He maintains that his inspiration is and will always be his mother
His mother sold idlis from the family’s modest house on Bajanai Koil Street in Madipakkam to send him to school.
The 30-year-old youth later walked through the portals of two premier educational institutions, set up his own venture with just Rs. 2,000 as capital and now heads the firm that employs more than 200 people across five cities. he took another bold step which, in his own words, was to reach out to jobless youth.
The Mission,
He formally announced his decision to contest as an independent candidate from the South Chennai Lok Sabha constituency. “It was during the Mumbai terror attacks that I took the decision to plunge into electoral politics in order to reach out to more people across society,” he said. Mr. Sarath Babu said it was time for “all of us to not just aspire for developmental politics, but witness it for real.” “We need educated and selfless youth to drive this country to the next developmental phase. “Youth with dynamic personalities should come forward with courage and get into active politics,” he said.
Asked how he planned to reach out to the more than 11 lakh voters during elections, he replied that he had been speaking to several thousand people in the past three to four months and that he would make good use of technology, by remaining in contact with his voters through the internet and mobile phone. A number of his friends from school and college, including those from Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad, were with him to support him during campaigning.
At last good things started happening, I found a man I looked for in my constituency. Let us support him and make politics a proffessional activity,
Runinig a country need professional skills, I remmeber Jaagore campaign "ye Desh ko chellaneka kaam, ashaan nehi"
Hope some of my fellow constituency are reading...
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