SPEED MERCHANT
It's easy to mistake the 5 ft nothing boy-man for an earnest student. Till you see his eyes -- they are eagle eyes. Till you learn he is off to Macau, then Seoul, for Formula 3 world championship races. This boy from Coimbatore is the fastest Indian on wheels, ever. And this is what former Formula 1 world champion Jackie Stewart said of him: "Narain is doing a great job, and without any infrastructure support has done exceedingly well."

Stewart should know. Narain now races for his Ford team. F3 is also a school -- the racing equivalent of Jedi knights in training -- for the F1 circuit, where a mistake at 200 kmph on a bend is sometimes paid for with a life. School's been tough this year. It's brought two wins and three podium finishes, and a sixth so far in the standings. Check: it's his first full year of racing. So call him the honourable schoolboy. And when he says, "I want to be the first Indian F1 racing driver", look at his eyes.