The Milkman from Berlin

IT sounds like a modern-day fairy tale8212;a poor boy from India is discovered by a fashion magazine and turns into a hot model in Milan, a...

IT sounds like a modern-day fairy tale8212;a poor boy from India is discovered by a fashion magazine and turns into a hot model in Milan, and then goes on to make a successful business career8212;with mango lassi in Germany.

Only, this one8217;s true. Seated in his carefully furnished apartment in a posh Berlin suburb, Amit Ranka is living proof of it.

From Bikaner to Kathmandu, Milan to Berlin, 35-year-old Ranka8217;s dizzying biography leaves you reeling.

In recent weeks, German hacks and television crews have been queuing up at Ranka8217;s doorstep, ever since the self-made businessman launched the 8220;former yoghurt drink of the maharajas8221; in the market to coincide with a boom in anything faintly Indian in Berlin this summer. Ranka laughs. 8220;But when journalists come here, they tell me 8216;actually you8217;re much more interesting than your mango lassi!8217;8221;

The story began in Bikaner when Ranka was nine. His father, a textile dealer, lost all his money in the stock market and plunged the once-wealthy family into financial ruin. 8220;We ended up on the street all of a sudden,8221; says Ranka. That marked the beginning of a tough life and a string of odd jobs. 8220;As the oldest son, it was my duty to provide for the family.8221;

He pauses and there8217;s an audible intake of breath. 8220;The day that changed my life,8221; he says, 8220;was in 19878221;. On the evening of September 9, a cancelled flight from Kathmandu to New Delhi found Ranka in a hotel bar, where he was spotted by an Italian group from fashion glossy Vogue. They offered him a three-week modelling job in Milan and 5,000. 8220;It was crazy, it was more than a year8217;s salary for me,8221; says Ranka. 8220;I said yes, though I8217;d never thought of modelling. Earlier I used to just check my hair parting in the mirror!8221; At 19, Ranka was thus catapulted into the world of haute couture.

After the three weeks, he landed another two-year contract and campaigns for Armani, Versace and Ferre8218; followed. 8220;It was a shock, I didn8217;t have the faintest idea about Europe at the time,8221; reminisces Ranka. He was 21 when he visited friends in Berlin and ended up staying.

After a brief spell as a student and model, he took up a lucrative offer to manage an upscale motorbike lifestyle shop. 8220;That was good money,8221; recalls Ranka. 8220;But I didn8217;t want to just stand still, I wanted to move on, do something on my own.8221;

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That explains why Ranka awoke one night in his Berlin apartment after he8217;d quit his last job and thought, 8220;I want to make cheese!8221; A passionate cook, Ranka8217;s love for Germany8217;s 8220;cultured life8221; and 8220;upright work ethic8221; had been marred by the 8220;disappointing vegetarian food8221; in the country. 8220;I used to always make my own cream cheese at home using fresh herbs and my grandmother8217;s recipe. I thought I could probably fill a niche in the market,8221; says Ranka. Marathon kitchen conferences with wife Lara, endless trips to patent offices and persistent knocking on restaurant doors finally resulted in Giacomo cream cheese in 10 flavours two years ago. And now, there8217;s lassi in three. 8220;People love lassi here, just take a look at the Indian restaurants.8221;

So has it been fate, luck or sheer coincidence? 8220;I believe in karma,8221; Ranka says. 8220;I think if you do good deeds, they come back. That8217;s my success.8221;

It8217;s still unclear whether the fairy tale will end in India. Ranka can see himself going back someday, but for now, it8217;s just to shoot a television spot for his lassi.