Proud to be an Indian

1. This month began with a VIP visit when we played host to HE the Governor, Saudi Arabian Monetary Authority (SAMA). The dignitary who was accompanied by one of his directors spent two days at Bangalore. I was given the task of looking after the VIP during his visit to the city. In addition to local sightseeing the esteemed guests were also scheduled to visit Wipro and Infosys offices. On the day we were supposed to visit these giants of the Indian industry, HE the Governor asked me to show him the Tata 'Nano' car on the road as he was very curious about it. On being told that the car would hit the roads only in October this year, he was a bit disappointed. Nevertheless, I was quizzed by him about Tata vehicles at length - types, manufacturing facilities etc, etc. I was amazed at his interest.

2. On reaching Wipro, the VIPs were given a warm welcome and a series of presentations followed highlighting the achievements of the company which is truly global now having offices all over the world. We spent nearly half a day at the facility which seemed like a massive college campus having sprawling landscaped greens, water bodies, spotless buildings and roads. We were informed that around 20,000 employees were working there. The atmosphere was cool and informal. Mr Azim Premji being out of the country at that time, the proceedings were conducted by members of the top management of the company.

3. At Infosys we were lucky to meet Mr Narayana Murthy, the Chairman of the Board and Chief Mentor and the audience with him was truly an education for me. I have had the good fortune of interacting with him when he was a member of our Central Board and he was always an epitome of humility and politeness. He still remains the same though he has acquired a 'professorial' charm now. He alone conducted the 'class' for us and took us around the huge Infosys campus which consists of 50 odd buildings, well spread out and some of them being architectural marvels in their own right. The campus was again flush with all the amenities one could wish for - food courts (serving international cuisine), ATMs, shopping plazas, a world class gymnasium etc. We saw people of different nationalities working at Infosys.

4. What was most impressive was the 'Infosys story' to which we were given special screening in the auditorium. Mr Narayana Murthy told us about the Infosys Global Education Centre at Mysore. This facility consists of 20 million sq ft of training space with 10600 single bedrooms. Around 20,000 people can be trained over here on any given day. It has 285 full time faculty and senior officers of the company are encouraged to teach here whenever possible. In 2007 infosys recruited 28000 engineers who are being trained here (the total number of applicants was a staggering 1.6 million). A memorable feature of this visit was the plethora of original 'quotes' and 'one-liners' which Mr Narayana Murthy used during his briefing. The visiting dignitaries were very impressed with this experience.

5. What is common in all the above paragraphs is that the stalwarts heading these organizations have an association with the RBI. While Mr Ratan Tata and Mr Narayana Murthy have been our erstwhile Central Board Directors, Mr Azim Premji is currently on the Board.

6. Another fact which I would like to mention here is that both the facilities described above are really world class. Once you enter the perimeter gate, you are transported to a different world. No wonder people give their eye teeth to land a job at these companies and the attrition rate is very low. These facilities can give a run for their money to any 'phoren' locale !!

These are some of the things which really make me proud to be an Indian.