Many dream. But only a few, gifted with talent, tenacity and luck, manage to realise their dreams. As in previous years, our annual listing of the Most Powerful Women in Indian Business, the 10th, celebrates the triumphs - achieved in the face of numerous challenges, including at times their own inhibitions - of women who have succeeded in living their dreams.

No longer are banal comparisons with the other gender required. These women are comfortable in their own skins, most managing career and home with equal elan.

The number of such women is also growing as evinced from the fact that 16 of the 30 women featured this time are debutants on the list. First-generation entrepreneurs, marque deal makers, meticulous litigators, housewives turned managing directors (MDs), marketing wizards, chefs, PSU heads, IT professionals - all figure in our diverse list in a separate section, 'New Entrants'.

The 30 apart, we also have three women this year moving into the coveted 'Hall of Fame' - reserved for those who have made it to the list at least seven times. In this section, with which our package opens, Britannia Industries MD Vinita Bali, Multiple Alternate Assets Management MD and CEO Renuka Ramnath, and HDFC MD Renu Sud Karnad recall the breakthrough moments of their remarkable careers in their own words.

Each is a story of hard work and personal sacrifice culminating in iconic achievement.