"Looking Beyond the Veil" by Mr.Subroto Bagchi

Looking Beyond the Veil!

Interview with Mr. Subroto Bagchi, COO, MindTree Consulting

The bigger issue is that the national mindset must change towards manual work. The gap between an MBA and a carpenter or a driver is absurd.

India's record GDP growth has come to the limelight across the globe, with 8% growth and record stock market levels. In your opinion, has the average standard of living actually improved in India as much as these parameters have?
- In some ways, it has. In many ways in has not. The state of rural health and primary education has not kept pace with the so-called GDP growth and urban development. Remember that the GDP growth comes off a low base, considering that we are a
nation of a billion people. Our infrastructure is way behind what it should be and it can be. Our women continue to languish. Beyond the veil of GDP, we have a lot more real developmental issues to deal with.

Is there some truth in the statement that we are creating too much of a hype about the IT / ITES boom in India and neglecting some of the other sectors like manufacturing and agriculture?
- We must recognize sectors like agriculture and manufacturing. These have significant potential.We must also encourage other services sectors that have huge potential, like travel and health services. We must also give the folks working in the infrastructure sector their true dues. But the bigger issue is that the national mindset must change towards manual work. The gap between an MBA and a carpenter or a driver is absurd. Only in our country, we have such a wide gap. We do not realize how exploitative is the
middle-class mindset that thinks only of rewarding itself. The living standards of the nation cannot improve unless the auto-rickshaw driver and the farm hand and the construction worker are substantially better paid. Only in India, such people can not afford a personal toilet at home. In Singapore, US, Germany, France and Tokyo - they
can. To me, that is the test.

Your famous speech, 'Go kiss the world', has been a source of great inspiration to a lot of us. The simplicity and the background are quite dumbfounding. Given the poverty levels and the below par standard of living in rural areas, how do you think IT be leveraged upon to improve this situation, or is it a tall order?
- IT is a tool. It cannot by itself, change character. Character flows from within. The below-par standard of living in the rural or for that matter, urban areas, is a function of vision and determined action over a sustained period of time. In addition, one generation will have to say, "we will give, we will not take". Come whatever may. It will change
everything. Without character, IT will merely put lipstick on a pig.


MindTree's vision statement talks about contributing a significant portion of the company's PAT to support enhancement of primary education. When MindTree goes public, how do you plan to convince your investors in contributing a significant portion of the PAT to the society?
- I am sure the Vision itself will not be controversial.What constitutes "significant" will have to be socialized with investors from time to time.

Increasing stress at work and working at different time zones has led to a youth
population that is more stressed and under higher risks of diseases today. Work-life balance is becoming a serious concern. MindTree being known so much for its HR best practices, what measures does the company take to help the employees manage such a demanding nature of work?
- We address the issue in many ways. We think that the work place can be high on challenge but not on stress. When the quality of work is good, there is recognition for work done, the climate is nonpolitical and there is continuous communication,
people are not stressed. Then of course, you have the usual thing that everyone provides - a gym, flexible work times, cafeteria, a nice workplace, yoga, fun at work and all that stuff. These by themselves, do not de-stress. Nothing stresses people more than, lack of
conviction in what they are doing. The incidence of stress in IT is also overrated. A
traffic cop inhales carbon monoxide 12 hours a day.A surgeon stands on his feet for 4-5 hours every day without taking eyes off a 6" by 6" opening under a flood light, a train driver routinely spends sleepless nights. These people have a lot more stress than
someone being bussed up and down, sitting in an airconditioned office, dealing with mostly noncontroversial things, being well paid and having multiple job options. Go and go talk to a young bureaucrat in a government office you will know what stress is.

Given the massive recruitment in IT/ITES sector and the corresponding rising costs, do you think IT players could promote quality education in smaller towns which would help the non-metro population as well as act as a sustainable source of human talent at an affordable cost?
- The current compensation in IT sector does not show a gap between metro and non-metro locations.Irrespective of the cost issues, IT and ITES companies are going to tier-II cities. Towns are a little further away and pose other infrastructure challenges. We have just decided to go to Bhubaneswar as our third location. It is a city of 1.5 million people. We
will involve ourselves with local educational institutes.

The recent KPMG report on "India Fraud Survey 2006" has brought forth the increasing occurrence of frauds and its many forms within the ITES and the financial services world. Given the high visibility of the Indian IT/ITES sector,
how do you think companies can overcome this threat? Is this because of a fundamental flaw in our educational system?
- It is because of a fundamental flaw in the national character. IT companies cannot be islands of good behavior. We are a nation in denial on this issue.



The development activity in any country is fueled by the amount of entrepreneurship observed in the country. We are already seeing the benefits of entrepreneurship, especially in the IT Industry. Do you think the governmental policies are conducive to nurture entrepreneurship in India? What kind of changes would you suggest in improving this state?
- We must celebrate small entrepreneurs a lot more.Though people say that entrepreneurs are born and not taught, we must introduce entrepreneurship as a subject of study. We must make infrastructure a fundamental right of citizenship and remove corruption for one generation of Indians. If these are done, we will cease to over focus on so-called
"policies".

We see a lot of buzz around Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR). Do you think companies really are bothered about CSR or are there a lot of them who consider this as a way of capturing goodwill in the eyes of the shareholders?
- Many companies are genuinely concerned about CSR and do it as an integral part of who they are. But I believe that CSR begins with paying one's taxes right. As long we all pay our taxes right, whether or not we are doing CSR can wait as a subject of conversation.

We have read that MindTree minds rebuilt a school in a village called somennahalli. There are so many issues from Bangalore infrastructural
development to rural education and healthcare. What role do you think, the corporate world should play in order to forging an effective private-public partnership in social development?
-Companies must focus on running a profitable, competitive business and pay their taxes right. They must have high standards of governance. Public- Private partnership begins there. Then comes the issue of other forms of participation. There is greater need of citizenry getting involved in the "I pay taxes right - I vote - I get involved" cycle than just
companies sponsoring roads and parks.

– As told to Vikram Ananthakrishnan and
Umesh Mariappan, PGPM Class of 2006
(via e-mail)