from our special correspondent

Madikeri, Apr 12: Sharath Coorg, son of K B Shanthappa, general secretary of Karnataka state AHINDA, has secured the fifth rank in the post-graduate diploma in Management (2005-2006) with distinction from the Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad (IIM-A).

Sharath, who had offers up to Rs 6 million a year during campus interviews from the London Investment Bank and a consultancy firm from Singapore, had turned them down and now wants to pursue his own enterprise. Real estate development is one of the options. He also has plans for higher education and research.

"Sky is the limit if you are your own boss. I want to have my own company which will have a global presence," said Sharath Coorg, who decided not to take up a corporate job as he feels that there is a ceiling to the ladder of growth in corporates.

Coorg always has it in his mind that initial pay packets make no difference. To his mind, the calculation should be driven by a single factor: ambition. "Marketing has been traditionally recognized as the most critical business function," he says. 

Sharath had his primary education in Good Shepherd Convent, Ammathi in Kodagu and high school education in Shri Satya Sai High School in Alike in Bantwal taluk of DK district. After PUC at Satya Sai educational institutions at Puttaparti in Andhra Pradesh, he did his B Tech in IIT, Chennai.