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When I became Secretary, Department of Electronics, right from the first week itself, I
started meeting regularly the industry associations like NASSCOM, MAIT, CETMA,
ELCINA and so on. It is the strategic alliance between the Department of Electronics
and the industry that helped greatly in removing the usual restrictions of red tape and gave
a helping hand to the industry to flourish. It is in this process of establishing my equation
with the industry and evolving common strategies, where Dewang Mehta played a very
vital role. He used to describe himself as my Hanuman. According to him, I was Lord
Rama himself who has come to help the industry and he was my humble servant. In fact,
he used to sit at my feet literally in private meetings and made no secret of this. I used to
point out to him that Lord Rama himself could not cross the sea between India and Sri
Lanka without the bridge built by the
vanara sena
.
On the other hand, it was Hanuman in
one single leap, who could cross the ocean.
This comparison of Dewang Mehta with Hanuman is very apt. Coming to think of it,
India itself had certain Hanuman-like qualities. One was the lack of awareness about
one’s own capacity. When Hanuman hesitated whether he could cross the ocean, it was
Jambvant or Jambavan
,
the wise old chief of bears, who could tell him that he had all the
qualities required for this task. In the well-known sloka:
Manojavam Maruta Tulya Vegam,.
Jitendriyam Budhimatam Varishtam.
the qualities of Hanuman as a person who has conquered his mind, had the speed of wind,
conquered his senses and was brilliant in intelligence were what made him all powerful.
Leaping across the sea was not a feat beyond him.
There used to be a joke in those days of the nineties when Indian girls like Sushmita Sen,
Aishwarya Rai and so on, used to regularly bring prizes home in beauty contests like Miss
World,Miss Universe and so on. It was said that this success of Indian girls beating global
competition was because the Government of India did not have a Ministry of Beauty. Our
girls were beating global competitions hollow, because the negative Midas touch of the
GoI was not there. The same was said of the Indian software industry. We were able to
take on the competition, because there was no government interference.
Unfortunately, this is totally incorrect. I am very happy that all captains of industry in the
field of information technology have repeatedly highlighted the positive role played by
the Government of India in the development of software exports, when I happened to be
the Secretary of the Department of Electronics.This was possible because of the vital link
between the government and the software industry which Dewang Mehta forged.
He was almost tailor-made for India’s requirement of the electronic industry at that time.
He was an excellent communicator and could be very witty and attention grabbing when
he spoke. I still remember the story which he used to narrate while trying to project India’s
software capability.
There is an interview for selection of candidates for a company. The interviewer asks,
“
What is nine plus six?”The Englishman says promptly, “Fifteen.” Rejected.
Next is an American.The same question is asked.The American whips out his calculator,
presses the buttons and says “Fifteen.” Again rejected.
Then comes an Indian candidate. “What is nine plus six?” The Indian does not reply
immediately. He looks around conspiratorially and says very softly, “Well, what do you
want it to be?” And finally, he is selected.
Now, this story brings out in one stroke the importance that the Indians pay to the needs
