New Delhi, Feb. 14 -- Anu Aga is a byword in Indian business for her resilience, courage, and stoicism in the face of personal tragedies. Less celebrated is her business acumen and her surgical turnaround of Thermax, an engineering giant that was haemorrhaging value when she took the helm.

In February 1996, Rohinton Aga, her husband and the driving force behind Thermax, died of a massive stroke. Within 48 hours, the board thrust the chairperson's role upon her even though her only experience was a decade heading human resources at the energy solutions company. Just 14 months later, before grief could even begin to heal, her 25-year-old son Kurush died in a car accident.

But even as she coped with her sorrow, there was a company that nee...