No one ever won a chess game by betting on each move. Sometimes you have to move backward to get a step forward, Amar Gopal Bose, Founder and CEO of Bose Corporation once said. The strategy is true not only for game of chess but of business too. And few could be credited of mastering the tactic as artfully as Bose who, by making several moves forward and backward, finally laid the foundation of one of the biggest names in the history of acoustics. Today, the Bose Corporation is a $1.7 billion company, which employs more than 8,000 staff around the world. 18 subsidiaries and 8 manufacturing facilities around the world. So strong is the company's commitment to research that it reinvests 100 per cent of its profits in furthering its research efforts. Known for high-end audio equipment and dedication to innovations and research, it's no wonder that Bose has earned over two dozen patents, and he still works full time guiding new research in the field of acoustics.

The popularity of Bose products could be measured from the fact that it can be found in Olympics stadiums, Broadway theatres, the Sistine Chapel, and the Space Shuttle, where his noise cancellation system protects the astronauts from permanent hearing damage. In fact, Bose's inventions have created cult-like fans and innovative products. Few people know that the wildly successful Wave radio took 14 years to create. An electrical engineer from Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Bose did his Ph.D from the same institute and later went to do research on speaker technology. After completing his education, Bose joined MIT as a professor of electrical engineering at the MIT itself.

In fact, Bose started working on his passion for stereo system while doing graduate work at MIT in the 1950s. Realizing that speakers with impressive technical specifications failed to reproduce the realism of a live performance, Bose aimed to design a speaker that would emulate the symphony hall experience in the home. And eventually, he was able to develop a speaker system which was one of the first to make use of sound reflecting off walls and the ceiling. Later in 1964, he founded Bose Corporation while he was still teaching at MIT.

Bose's dedication to his work could be gauged from the fact that he did not take salary and worked at night to achieve his ambitious plans. Today, under the stewardship of Bose, the company manufactures world-class audio equipment, including speakers, amplifiers, and automotive sound systems. Recently the company made foray into another innovative project-an automobile shock absorber that uses electromagnetic principles instead of the hydraulics that are common today. But behind all these successes is a man who had a humble beginning. Few people today know that Bose's father, Nani Gopal Bose had to flee Calcutta due to his activities against the British rulers.

He came to the US and Amar was born in Philadelphia. From his teenage days, Bose was interested in electronics and used to make small electrical toys to supplement his family's income. Thanks to his resolve, determination and hard work that his efforts finally paid off. Today, there is no music lover who is not familiar with Bose's name. Surely, Bose is made of different stuff.