mumbai an ageold stereotype defines the maharashtrian community as being no good at business most people are ostensibly content with holding a secure job that brings home a steady income rather than testing the vagaries of a business environment even though the returns are higher however a think tank of 40 maharashtrians is prompting gen next to break free of this mental block the marathi business club mbc was founded after 11 maharashtrians took an oath to promote entrepreneurship at raireshwar in raigad where shivaji maharaj had pledged swarajya at the age of 16 mbcs members meet every week to patronise young businessmen aged 1624 stalwarts like gajanan pendharkar founder chairman of vicco laboratories madhukar talwalkar of the fabled fitness chain former sheriff jagannath hegde harshad bastikar director of greywater technologies and shantanu bhadkamkar president of the maharashtra chamber of commerce contribute time and effort to mentor the youth on the eve of independence day mbc presented the yuva udyojak awards 2015 to young entrepreneurs each winner proved that the oak tree had blossomed from a little acorn one winner ameya kolwankar 23 had worked in a garage and modified secondhand motorcycles before starting his own firm s k automobiles he and his friend kapil went on to fashion kart short for kapil and ameyas reverse trike which is a curious threewheeler with two wheels in front and one behind the vehicle has a gear shift so that disabled persons can drive another winner nikhil mahadeshwar was an ethical hacker who was training police and government officials in cyber security at the tender age of 19 he now owns a company called feathers group gaming addict nikhil malankars father had bought him a computer when he was just three years old right away father and son began to spend long nights playing computer games nikhil says in class ix my schoolmate prasad kajarekar and i brainstormed about setting up our own company by modifying existing games that dream came true barely out of school they had a team of 16 people working for them and are now proud ceo and coo of gameeon which has 60 games in its lineup and hopes to build 100 by the end of the year the loudest applause at the awards ceremony was reserved for tejas relekar who climbed the stage on crutches cerebral palsy has bent his knees but not his will at 17 i began to repair computers in my neighbourhood and at 20 i own a cyber solutions company i am taking a degree in computer engineering from st xaviers technical institute in mahim the spirited lad says mbc chairman suhas kumbhar says we have 40 members but the waitlist has grown to 500 because we verify the antecedents of every entrant we visit his office and make sure he does not have political leanings that may vitiate the atmosphere of the club madhukar talwalkar is all praise for the initiative maharashtrians tend to be averse to richness to them i