Today Alukkas manages his Indo-Gulf jewelry business from the coastal city of Cochin in the Indian state of Kerala.

FORBES: BY SARITHA RAI

He went on to help design India's first metro in Kolkata in 1970 and then served as head of Cochin Shipyard in Kerala.

FORBES: On The Cover/Top Stories

Ali was an early backer of Cochin airport in his native Kerala state, India's first airport built through a public-private partnership.

FORBES: M.A. Yusuff Ali

When Menon was 28 he had a chance meeting at a Cochin hotel with Sulaiman Al Adawi, then a captain in the army of the Sultanate of Oman.

FORBES: BY ANURADHA RAGHUNATHAN