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Dewang Mehta was the best Brand Ambassador that the Software Industry in India could
have at the take-off point of India’s journey, to become an IT superpower. For that matter,
he was an excellent Brand Ambassador for India itself.
Dewang brought vigour and zest that immensely contributed to launch India into the
world of Information Technology. His zest for life and high energy levels were very
infectious.
He was also endowed with unique social skills which made him invaluable in the position
he was in. Dewang made it a point to call and meet with me whenever he came to
Mumbai. And he was always smiling. I cannot think of Dewang without the smile on his
face. Besides, he also had an amazing sense of humour, which was at display at personal
meetings as well as speeches.
The maturity he exhibited was way beyond his years. He could connect effortlessly with
people even twice his age. At the same time he would also connect with bureaucrats and
politicians effortlessly and put across the views of the Indian IT industry very effectively
and with finesse.
Dewang was very fond of fashion shows whichwere invariably present at everyNASSCOM
Annual Conference. He had an unabashed political ambition and I dare to say, he would
have been a formidable politician; one who would have contributed immensely to the
future of India.
I think both the software industry and the IT industry owe a great deal to Dewang and
his invaluable contribution to all of us. Perhaps, one of our NASSCOM members, who is
a poet, can write “An Ode to Dewang”.
I was dumbstruck when I heard of his passing away. All of us lost an invaluable friend
and ally.
Dr. Lalit Kanodia
Chairman, Datamatics Global Services
The Change We Wanted
In early 1988 a few of us fromBombay (nowMumbai) had deliberated on the formation of a
Software Industry Association.After further discussions with friends fromBangalore (now
Bengaluru) and Madras (now Chennai), we gathered and decided to form “NASSCOM”.
I was an odd-man out as I was neither an Engineer nor a Software professional and as a
Chartered Accountant I brought in lot of inputs to the other co-founders of NASSCOM.
Those were the years we were struggling to get the Government to understand the
potential of software, the employment that it could generate and thus take India to the
next big league. None of the politicians or bureaucrats knew what software was nor could
they appreciate the problems the then fledgling industry was facing. We were brushed
off by many as Body-shoppers and were told that MNCs were here to get cheap labor.
The Association struggled financially as we did some stupid things that many start-up
organisations do. This struggle went on for another three years and NASSCOM was in
dire-straits but the founders and I did not want to give up. We got the Change that was
needed. What was this change?
Harish Mehta located Dewang and we interviewed him. I was asked to have additional
time to assess if he could manage the financial woes that NASSCOM was mired in at that
time. What started as a stern lecture from me on financial discipline and making every
rupee count, turned out to be a fun meeting with this diminutive man telling me that he
would work part-time and I could manage the finances of NASSCOM! Then he quietly
told me that he was a Chartered Accountant and he understood every word that I said and
would not spend a Rupee unless he saw revenue.
Over cups of coffees and lunches at Ashoka Hotel, restaurants in CP, New Delhi and late
night meetings at his residence, I said the biggest woe for me was to follow the archaic
rules and regulations that were meant for the manufacturing industry. I added that nobody
