India, Aug. 12 -- Before HCL became a global technology powerhouse, it was just a bold idea shared by six ambitious men who walked away from their careers to build India's tech future. Scrapping together Rs.1.87 lakh by pooling savings, borrowing money, and selling a car, they launched a company from a tiny Delhi barsati, starting an iconic 50-year journey of innovation.

"We quit our jobs. There were six of us - Shiv Nadar, Arjun Malhotra, Yogesh Vaidya, Subhash Arora, D.S. Puri and me," Ajai Chowdhry, one of HCL's founding members, wrote on X.

He recalled how in 1976, the year the company started, startups were "not really a thing in India". He continued, "Venture capital did not exist. Banks were not exactly lining up to lend money to...