If Creativeland Asia (CLA) today boasts of capitalised billings of `170 crore with clients like Audi, Frooti, Café Coffee Day, Saint Juice to name a few, then some credit goes to the city of Ahmedabad in Gujarat. For the man who started CLA, Sajan Raj Kurup spent considerable time in Gujarat, both studying as well as during his formative years in advertising. The spirit of enterprise, says Kurup, came from the city that thrives on private entrepreneurship. "Not to forget the water from the city. As anyone who drinks it automatically imbibes a sense of starting his own business," he laughs. Today, after winning the first ‘independent agency of the year' award at the recently concluded Spikes Asia 2011, both the creative professional as well as the business-man inside Kurup would be getting a sense of satisfaction — that of acquiring a scale and size as an indigenous creative outfit without any foreign network agency tag. The beginning back in 2007 though was like any Gujarati businessman’s (Kurup's a Malayali by birth) —an idea, basic infrastructure and a few trusted people who believe in the idea. Before starting CLA, Kurup worked with several advertising companies like Mudra, Leo Burnett, Orchard, Lowe and Grey largely in the creative function. "I freelanced and directed a couple of TV commercials to raise money to start CLA. It helped me buy our first few Apple machines.