New Delhi, July 19 -- The partition of India in 1947 upended millions of lives on both sides of the newly drawn border. Yet, amid the devastation, it gave rise to a generation of Indian entrepreneurs whose stories stand as enduring testaments to human resilience and grit. They embodied the very spirit of "rugged individualism" that Ralph Waldo Emerson once celebrated.

Among them were Brijmohan Lall Munjal, the visionary behind Hero Group; Karam Chand Thapar, founder of the eponymous conglomerate; Gujarmal Modi, who built the Modi Group; Dharampal Gulati, the Spice King who turned MDH into a global brand; and Kundan Lal Gujral, the man behind Delhi's iconic Moti Mahal restaurant. Displaced and dispossessed by Partition, they rose from adv...