Life's about Eternal Optimism

He Speaks in a voice that suggests a rare mixture of politeness and authority, which also defines his personality. His face has lines of experience etched on it and a smile that promises its charm even in tough times. I was interviewing ajai Chowdhry, the cofounder of HCL and Chairman & CeO of HCL Infosystems.

I wondered what is it that makes this man tick? Who are the people who can in-fluence such a person? So,when I ask him, he takes a moment to ponder and replies, “I don’t think I can attribute it to any single person. However, the person who comes closest is my co-founder, Shiv nadar. It’s quite impossible not to get influenced by his charismatic personality.” So, what is it about nadar that influences him so much? “He always believes in looking ahead and has a positive attitude,” he says. Accept the challenges so that you may feel the exhilaration of victory, said George S Patton. So what are the challenges that Chowdhry faced? “There have beenmultiple challenges. For example, how do you set a growth trajectory in a particular time? Sometimes it is through organic growth, on other occasions through joint ventures and acquisitions. We have done it all,” he says.

So, what are the learnings in these phases? “In the 1990s, when we went for joint ventures, we learned from global leaders and scaled ourselves up. at that point in time, we felt we are a passionate company. We soon realized that passion alone was not enough and that processes and qualities are as important as passion and people,” he says. Every company or an individual plans for the future. But, Chowdhry has a different take. “you can make a five-year plan but it’s never going to be sufficient. From being a hardware company addressing B2B, we went on to address B2C segment, and then we decided to go for systems integration as well,” he explains.

It’s said that time tests everybody. For Chowdhry it was the year 1991, when there was limited foreign exchange in the country. “During this period, our products were dependent on the components that were imported. So that was quite a challenge for us,” he says. To grow a business, it takes time and effort. To grow faster, it takes more time and more effort. But, it’s imperative to strike a balance between personal and professional life. “I have a methodology by which I detach myself from work the moment I reach home. One needs to train oneself. Despite the fact that you have a mobile and a laptop, you need to keep away from these devices. I believe

I have done a fairly good job in mastering this skill,” he adds with a smile. His smile is contagious and I smile back. Before I could stop myself, I ask him the question that was burning in mind. What makes an entrepreneur successful? “an entrepreneur’s biggest skill and strength is to be optimistic at all times, particularly during crisis. He has to be an eternal optimist. even at difficult times, he should talk about growing and not give up hope,” he says.

A leader is a dealer in hope — something that napoleon Bonaparte said so many years ago. It’s fascinating to know that someone follows his advice even today.

Books, Business and Bhagwad Gita

When I walked through the door less cabin, with paintings adorning the walls and a glass pane overlooking a beautiful garden, the ambiance impressed me. The man who entered after me impressed me even more. Witty, calm and someone with a sense of humor is how I will describe P Rajendran, co-founder and COO of NIIT. An IIT graduate, he can talk about politics, movies and spirituality with as much clarity as about computers and engineering. Reminiscing about his IIT days, he says, “I always wanted to be an outstanding engineer. I wanted to invent something”.

His passion for engineering can be traced back to the influence his uncle, the first engineer in the family had on him. “I was very much influenced with his strong ethics His professional attitude impressed me much”, adds Rajendran. So, was his uncle the biggest influence in his life? He thinks for a moment and replies, “No, he inspired me in a way, but not completely. I don’t think I have ever been influenced completely by anyone or anything”. He takes a moment before he goes on, “However, there is this book by W.Somerset, Razor’s edge. It made a lasting impression on me and opened my horizons to bigger world outside my own”, he says, suggesting me to get a hand on that book myself. I promise him to do that as soon as I get a chance.

His love for books is apparent from the way his eyes twinkle at the mere mention of the word. An avid reader, Rajendran has read everything from Ayan Rand to Bhagwad Gita. “I have marked some paragraphs in Gita red and put some tags on them. I sometimes go back and read those verses”, he adds. Influenced by Howard Roark, Rajendran believes that everyone should have an idol like him and think differently and respect and understand the other side of the story, without leaving the faith in one’s own belief.

Ask him about the toughest time in his life and he replies with a resolve in his voice. The same resolve that got his company through some of the worst times in the history of IT in the country. “I think 2001; the last slowdown was the toughest time for us. India was just starting to understand IT. ‘After 20 years IT dies in India’ was the general story going around”, he says. Someone who believes in the concept of FOF, fight or flight, he fought all right. “We went into aggressive marketing. There were 14 centers and rest franchise of NIIT around the country at that time. Some partners got scared and pulled out. So we went ahead and invested our own money and from 14 we went on to have 50 centers in the country. This reinstated faith in other partners and gave the message that we are going to go on”, says Rajendran.

The calm confidence in his voice suggests that he is someone who knows well how to balance his personal and professional life well. Ask him about this and he asks back quizzically, “I didn’t know the term personal life existed”, breaking into a chuckle the next moment. “I do not believe in partitioning my life in different compartments. It’s all integrated. If my wife calls me in a middle of a meeting I will pick up her call and if someone was to call me on a Sunday afternoon, I will pick up his call as well”, he adds.

So how does he handles difficult situations?“Depth of knowledge about the problem is of utmost importance. Also there should be a sense of urgency in tackling the problem and a laid-back attitude is a complete no-go,” he replies. His body language is a testimony that he believes in what he preaches. A straight back, alert eyes and a quite voice gives an impression of toughness and agility.

War movies, music and theater are things that relax him. “When my daughter was born, she was my stress buster till the time she was growing”, he adds.

Once I am done with the interview, he saw me take out the batteries of my Dictaphone and said, “You doing that to save energy right? I will give you a better idea, take a cloth and put it between the connection and the batteries, it will save both time and energy” and winks at me. I smile back; take my bag and leave, a little wiser and extremely satisfied with the meeting.