It was 1992. I was going to the United States to attend a workshop by Hans Neleman at Santa Fe Photographic Workshops. It was a one-week affair, but I had planned to stay in the US for about two months and spend one of those in New York City.
By the early 90s, Indians had already made a mark as software geeks. Still, the lesser-known fact was that Indians were already in upper management positions in the Valley, and some were successful entrepreneurs. And I thought of doing a story on them. I used to freelance for the India Today group then. They had just launched Business Today. I proposed a story, and they commissioned it and got Viji Sundaram, a writer based in the Valley, to write the story. The assignment fee paid for for my ticket.
It was a good experience. I got to meet some wonderful people and hang around at some of these companies. We tried to get an interview with Steve Jobs for another story. He had just launched NEXT. Jobs refused.
This was definitely the first-ever story about Indian entrepreneurs in the Valley. I have scanned the pages of Business Today dated January 7, 1993. And here they are,