Morarka, a management graduate from Boston University, is now Director of Global TradeCracker Ltd. And, for this cheerful young man and all those who know him, the birth of tradecracker.com -his “baby” as he refers to the website-has been the outcome of months of self-exploration. “In the US, I used to trade through simulation websites for various course modules. I would prick myself with the questions: Do I know the market? What is my risk appetite?”

By the time college was winding up, the questions turned into a large pool of predicaments with Morarka finding himself at a crossroad-should he be learning about the Indian markets and joining his dad’s empire, should he try to land a flashy job in the US markets or should he set out to beat out his own path? “That was the toughest phase of my life. I just followed my gut, which said that I should now feel the Indian markets,” he smiles.

Excited by the robust Indian economy, Morarka found too many enthusiastic investors burning their fingers through investments based on emotion rather than research. “India had no simulation web. People worked on Excel sheets. I knew where I was heading now,” he says.

Morarka then spent nine months creating the website. The efforts have paid off-the site has the latest news feeds, research sections and also analytical tools to tell learning investors whether they are ready to take risks Now, just two weeks after its launch, the website is being used by students of the Indian Institute of Management (IIM), Ahmedabad, in one of their course modules.

The transition from a Boston University graduate to an emerging corporate head honcho is more than obvious. Requests for interviews have been pouring in, his cellphone ring ceaselessly and his organiser is choc-a-bloc with appointments with different management institutes to sell the idea of his website. Morarka, at 23, is a very busy businessman.

“At this point, I enjoy the support of all those who felt the idea was close to weird,” he laughs.

Unfazed by the soaring expectations, the youngster enjoys shuttling between Delhi, his hometown, and Mumbai, his new business hub where he spends time coordinating with brokerage houses and business counterparts. “My pals tell me I’m a budha (old man) now,” he laughs.

But the simple home bird lives on too-in the boyish way he talks about buying new printers for his employees behind their backs, in lengthy discussions with his father over hiring women from New Delhi and providing for their security as they shuttle between New Delhi and Mumbai on business. And, he admits, as he rushes home, he still feels like rustling up some dal khichdi. And, of course, he continues to chant the advice his mum and dad gave him many years ago.

“My dad always said: Vaibhav, you have a business to back you always. But what you will create will be your baby, something you can be proud of. It won’t be inherited by you, it will be yours.”