Posts Tagged ‘Infosys’

This is a post about my recent visit to the Infosys Campus in Mysore ! It all started with a cold email (I’m guessing there must be some word similar to a cold call !! ) To be true I had been trying to get in touch with people from Infosys for a while now but without luck. Then one of my friends gave me this idea of just shooting a mail to the Infy Mysore DC (Delivery Center) head. So back I was on this modus operandi of cold calling (The only way for start ups to get in touch with people) Off I sent the mail to Mr Nagarajan Srinivasan, the only difference this time was the reply said “I have heard about you before” !! which made me believe like Paris Hilton, Any kind of publicity is Good Publicity

Mr Nagarajan Srinivasan (I shall take the liberty of calling him Snags, thats how he popularly known in Infy, plus I think it also sounds cool !!) Snags wanted to get his leadership team at Infy on the walking tour so we exchanged a couple of mails back and forth to decide the date and in between he suggested if I would be interested in coming down to the Infy Campus to talk about my experience with Royal Mysore Walks, They had their Leadership meet coming up and he extended the invite. You know for me if its Talking then there is no Stopping ! So gladly I accepted. The Walking tour also happened for their small group. Great audience to be doing such tours for. Well read, well traveled folks who have this strong love for the city !!

The date of the talk arrived and there I was at the gates. Now anybody who has been to the Infy Mysore Campus will tell you about the kind of security cover it has got, No!! not the Group 4 kind of joke that passes for security, In wake of latest terrorist threats Infy has armed CISF (Central Industrial Security Force) personnels guarding their campus, There is a “Quick Action Unit” too (Don’t know how exactly they act though) stationed out there. Trivia ! Infosys is the first corporate organisation in India to get CISF cover !! Anyways considering yours truly is not a terrorist getting past the rings of security was not too much trouble.

The Infy Mysore Campus has always been a kind of a crystal maze to me (the couple of times I have been there before) But thanks to my friends there this time, I got to the building I had to get to without much trouble.Here I met with Ms Soumya (who happened to be a alum from my college,SJCE) ,who took me to Snags chamber.A very unassuming personality who would put you at ease. The three of us headed for lunch to this restaurant called Rajadhani, Places like these are generously sprinkled in Malls all over but to expect something like this in your office food court must surely be soothing. After a sumptuous meal where the waiter in a traditional attire forces you to have more like you are one of the members of his family I hope do people get back to work after lunch here !!

Snags had given me this option of touring the campus post lunch, either by Walk or on a Buggy! No points for guessing what I chose !! Hopped on to the buggy with Soumya who is this pro at doing these campus tour and she was very polite in letting me know that,”The Buggy is used only when they have a client visit or important guests. Even the top bosses don’t get to use it in the campus” So she said I was privileged !!  It sure felt good but it also made me realize that with a Kurta you are undressed for the occasion!! I was from this  Gandhian Era when everybody else on campus was ‘tie’d up, in spite of the heat !! Anyways off we were on the tour. The shapes of the buildings unique stretching towards weird (for this common man), The running tracks, 7   food courts, The Global Education center, which makes you feel you are in Rome !! The sports complex, the series of Tennis, Badminton,Squash Courts, Rooms for Yoga, Aerobic, Super Market, Mini Hospital, Banks, Manicured lawns all over the place. In short you could say that they have whatever a man (even a woman for that matter) could ever need. But wait, they didn’t sell beer !! They also have this magnificent Multiplex which on the outsidelooks like a Cactus !! Soumya declared that this is better than the PVR multiplexes (Trivia !! PVR stands for Priya Village Roadies,A joint venture between the owners of the Priya Cinema hall in Delhi and Village Roadshows,the austrailian production firm, the folks behind the movie Matrix !! ) Anyways I thought she was kidding but when inside you are proved wrong. A 1000 seater big screen place was where the much coveted TED Conference took place last November.

Since the Mysore campus is their central training facility. The campus has approx 13,000 beds, The capacity to accommodate the highest number of people in a single complex in whole world !! Snags tells me that The Venetian in Vegas comes 2nd with 7,000 odd rooms , The MGM Grand again in Vegas with 6800 odd rooms comes 3rd !! Now this one place where Mysore beats Vegas huh ! and like Soumya quips, “If ever the software industry collapses, Infy can turn this facility into a world class resort !!” I’m sure their code will run the slot machine if that happens!  The hostel accommodation is spread across their sprawling campus and it almost never ends. At the end of the tour my respect for the facilities team increased who are always on their toes to keep the campus in shape and for Soumya who in spite of doing this tour for the nth time was so full of enthusiasm !!

I can already hear most you saying, I must be a great campus and all that but but whats the big deal !! Well, I too have seen my share of world class facilities but thinking of it some 30 odd years ago, A time when our Mulayams and Lalus were calling for a ban on computers in India because they thought it would take away employment, A bunch of guys from middle class backgrounds in the 20s decided to give up their cushy jobs to pursue their dreams and in the process they built a World Class Corporation !! Yes the Big two tech companies in India are TCS and Wipro, not taking anything away from them. The former always had the Tatas behind them and Western Indian Oil Products had made its money in the FMCG sector before entering the IT space !! Talk to most entrepreneurs today and they’ll tell you that they look up to Infy story for inspiration. Doubt the Infy founder had somebody to look up to in our country back then ! Which is why their story is so commendable. Back in Snags cabin, waiting for him to finish his work, got this thought, here is a person who is the Associate Vice President of the company today and The Head of this sprawling campus which trains 25,000 people each year !! But 19 yrs ago right out of college he joined Infy as a Software Engineer, when it still wasn’t a flashy company and climbed up the ladder to the position he is in today !! Its people like him who probably truly represent the Indian IT success story! And you ask him how ? His modest reply “I was at the right place at the right time” then you couple that with his  smartness and shrewdness and you’ll know why he got there so soon !!

Went for the talk which was their Leadership meet for Project Managers and above, Great audience to get across to. It was about “Converting your passion to Entrepreneurship” It was about my short journey so far of trying to club my interests and making a living out of it, with the challenges faced. It was close to an hour. After the talk over coffee I was still curious how would a one man venture addressing the leadership team of a billion dollar company help ? for which Snags replied “We would want our team to think like entrepreneurs not expecting all the decision to come from the top” He was right , Ownership makes all the difference. Something the Japanese Auto companies did very well and the American Auto giants didn’t !!

Here I was to to share my experience so that they could get a different perspective and probably learn from it but in the end I it was a great learning experience for me personally !! Happens so often than not that you get back more than what you could give… Aint it

n hey by the way.. Snags is a SJCE alum too !! I’m so proud of my alma mater I tell you

PS: Here I’m not trying to change anybody’s mindset on Infy !! Because even now I know i will have my friends complaining over minor issues in the company, I too did not appear for the Infy campus interview in college because back then I thought they were too big !! now I feel every entrepreneur should read the Infy story, It sure is a very humbling experience !!

It occurred to me that I hadn’t got anything for my mom since I ventured into my own business. She deserved something special, apart from being understanding and supportive she has always made sure that I’m so comfortable at home because of which I could focus better on work. And dont they say that behind every man’s success there is woman !! okay now you do not have to go and disect the word success and come after me, this is about Sarees and Moms so coming back to it I dint have to think too hard as to what I wanted to get her. It had to be a Mysore Silk Saree !! after all what else can the founder of Royal Mysore Walks think of !! apart from a Mysore Special So off went the mom and son one afternoon to the Mysore Silk factory !!

The Mysore Silk story has always fascinated me.  This factory was started in 1912, almost a 100 yrs back by the Maharaja of Mysore to provide Silk Sarees just for the women of the Mysore Palace. These days husbands have a problem taking their better halves out shopping and back then you had a king starting an entire factory to fulfill their need  chivalry at its best i would say !! Mysore Silk Saree is the only 100% pure silk saree in the whole world and they use pure gold and silver for the zari (the border). Did you know that women sometimes get old Mysore Silk sarees melted and get ornaments made from the precious metal that is obtained !! And any woman who has worn Mysore Silk will vouch for its super lightness unlike the other Silks.

The entire process, right from the silk yarn to the complete Saree  is done in their factory in Mysore and one can witness it. I have been taking a lot of my guests on this tour, and this time I was busy explaining my mom how the entire process is done, which is quite fascinating. But what really impresses me is that fact that just about 4 yrs back it was decided that this heritage industry should be shut down as it was a loss making one. Since then it has been restructured, the workers have gone from 3 shifts have to just one shift. The productivity has increased drastically and so has the quality. Now KSIC is a 400 Cr profit making industry !! People can just log on to their website and order the Saree of their choice and their are unable to meet the market demand. You talk to weavers there who so proudly showoff their handiwork and most of their kids are studying engineering across the street in the same college that the Infosys founder Mr Narayana Murthy went to !!

After the tour mom visibly impressed decided to buy not one but two Mysore Silk Sarees !! And I wasnt complaining Guys now that you know what to buy your mom, but then what are you gonna buy your girlfriend ??