48
years ago for having achieved the ISO 9001 certification. He breezed into the function,
quickly took stock of the mood of the audience and Press and delivered a scintillating
speech on the importance of both training and quality and its impact on the future of
the industry. During that evening he convinced me to join the NASSCOM Executive
Council and also signed me up to join him in many forums to evangelise the cause of the
IT industry. His famous jokes about the IT engineer solving the problem of camels in the
desert and the young accountant who answered an interview question on “What is 9+6”
with “What do you want it to be?” are now a crucial part of my own repertoire of humour
in public speeches.
The other inimitable quality of Dewang was his ability to make everybody believe that
they were his best friend. I can think of at least a hundred people in this industry whose
eyes get misty when they speak of a special moment with Dewang and truly believe he
was their “special friend”.This characteristic, to engage at a personal level and still be the
star of any national or international gathering is what many of our three million industry
youth need to emulate in their own careers and lives as they craft their own paths to
success!
Today, as many of us in the industry take joy in our little baby having grown to a hundred
billion dollar giant with a position of pre-eminence in the world and a healthy mixture
of IT services and products, engineering services, gaming and animation and the fast
growing BPO business, we bow our head in gratitude and remembrance for Dewang
Mehta, the prince who stood his own among many industry kings and gave us the belief
that we could achieve and the courage to make it happen!
Dr Ganesh Natarajan
Vice Chairman and CEO, Zensar and former Chairman, NASSCOM
