Jagdishan, The Banker Chef

In the months leading up to his exit, 70-year-old Aditya Puri was often bombarded with questions about his successor Sashi Jagdishan's personality being very different from him. The former is an outward Punjabi, and the latter a shy South Indian.

Puri often dismissed the juxtaposition as a mere difference of tandoori chicken and curd rice. The food analogy applies equally to both. The new MD and CEO of HDFC Bank loves to cook. In fact, 55-year-old Jagdishan specialises not only in South India cuisines, but also Maharashtrian and Punjabi ones. Those who know him well say he is equally good at Italian and Chinese dishes as well.

Brought up in Mumbai, Jagdishan is a pure vegetarian. "If I was not good at banking, I might have thought of becoming a chef," he often jokes with colleagues. Cooking is a great stress buster for Jagdishan. In his busy schedule as the CEO of the countrys second-largest bank, he takes time out during the weekends to hone his cooking skills.