Back, After the Ordeal

After spending eight days in a detention center in Indonesia and three more
days at the Indian embassy there, Arun Jain, the CMD of Polaris Software
Lab, and its vice-president Rajiv Malhotra are back in India. The
Indonesian authorities released them after hectic lobbying by the Indian
government and industry associations like Nasscom. Though Jain and malhotra were
released from police custody on December 20, they were unable to return to India
as their passports were not returned till December 24. On the same day, they
landed in Chennai after midnight, driving straight from the airport to a media
conference to put things in the right perspective. In an exclusive interview
with Dataquest a few days later, Jain talks about his experiences, and the
possible impact on his company and family. Excerpts...

l A
week after, how do you see the whole experience? 

We gain experience in different ways. But what I have experienced is
something that perhaps no CEO would have even imagined. End of day, it was a
good adventure (smiles) and a fifth-dimensional learning experience–totally
unknown to me before. Personally, it was scary as it is not easy to stay cool
when you are detained for no fault. It was akin to Bill Gates being arrested,
just because there are bugs in Windows! The whole thing was so weird that I
still cannot figure out why it happened in the first place.

l Did
you feel insecure during your ordeal? 

When we went to the 28th floor of Bank Artha Graha (BAG), it appeared
to be a normal client meeting. But unfortunately, there were no negotiations.
When we tried to leave, we were blocked and boxed in, in the boardroom. It was
Rajiv who sneaked out of the boardroom on the pretext of going to the washroom
and conveyed the message to our Chennai office–that the bank had detained us.
At this point, we did feel insecure because anything could have happened. Also,
the entire episode looked a bit pre-planned–things happened with a swiftness
that is rare in a country like Indonesia. For instance, the police handed me the
chargesheet immediately, a process that normally takes many days in that
country... We were told that we would be detained us for 20 days. The charge
against is was ‘deception’. For the first time in my life, I felt insecure
and frustrated–so much so that even becoming angry took an effort. Once we
left the bank, though, we felt a bit safer–we were out and had the chance to
explore legal action.

l
Where did the police take you from the bank and what were your feelings then?

The police escorted us to a detention center with a huge courtyard.
By the time we were in the detention room, I realized that my colleague and me
had not slept for 66 hours since our departure from India. One good thing was
that Rajiv and me were in the same room... but still, what it was was a
detention center–and what helped me keep my cool was yoga and meditation.

(Smiles) This is one of the longest vacations I have ever had. I call it an
‘Indonesian Safari’–one that gave me lots of time to think about Polaris.
My scribble pad is full of the strategies I have jotted down for the company.

l Why
did Artha Graha terminate the contract? What went wrong?

All I can say is that the contract is very comprehensive. However,
the arbitration clause clearly says any disputes should be settled in Singapore.
I feel it was because their targets kept changing, and they raised some issues
on the deliverables. It is a purely commercial dispute and at no point in time
did it qualify as a criminal offence.

l What
do you intend to do now, vis a vis BAG?

At our recent EGM, we decided to move arbitration proceedings against
Bank Artha Graha in Singapore, as specified in the contract. And we will fight
the case of criminal deception filed against us in the Indonesian courts and
quash the charges. A legal committee has been appointed to explore all possible
remedial measures.

"We will fight the case of criminal deception filed against us in the Indonesian courts, till we quash all the charges made"

l After
this ordeal, what is your view on operations in emerging and politically
unstable countries?

As I said earlier, it has been a learning lesson not just for us, but
for the entire Indian industry. What I feel personally is that we need to do due
diligence of clients and determine the practices they follow before taking the
plunge. Also the local Indian embassy has to be informed of the kind of work a
company does, and for which clients. In the event of crises, the only source of
help is the embassy.

l As
you close this quarter, what is the fallout of this incident on Polaris’
revenues?

For the year ended December 2002, the overall financial impact will
be around $1 million. This hit is due to the deficit that the Artha Graha
project termination creates. Moreover, we have already given the payment of
$662,000 to them. At the EGM, we also decided to increase Polaris’ authorized
capital from Rs 40 crore to Rs 65 crore. However, this is only the transient
setback and our merger with Orbitech could not have come at a better time, as it
puts our turnover in excess of $100 million.

l What
is the kind of impact the incident has had on your family members and on
employees of Polaris Software? 

My family was extremely positive, convinced that I would be released
soon. But obviously, they went through some very anxious moments.

As for our associates, they are our assets–they remained calm and carried
on with business as usual. This calls for a high degree of emotional quotient.
In the end, what matters are the values people bring to the organization, and
our employee values are indeed very high.

Shrikanth G