/dq/media/agency_attachments/UPxQAOdkwhCk8EYzqyvs.png)
Follow UsThe Indian IT Industry has lost a pioneer. Amitda, as we all knew him, was
not a flashy in-your-face-in-the-media kind of person. Yet he counseled and
motivated many of the young men and women who are today playing a key part in
the IT industry in India.
What can I say about a colleague, friend, philosopher and guide with whom I
have had the pleasure of sharing over 30 years? He is no longer amongst us. That
still has not sunk in.
I remember the days when I used to visit Calcutta to meet prospects and
customers. We had the HCL office on the 17th floor of Chatterjee International
Center. Thanks to the frequent power cuts there, Amit Dutta-Gupta and I would
walk up and down those 17 floors two to three times every day.
I remember on one of those visits the entry to the building was closed
because of a gherao. People inside could not come out, and those outside could
not go in. We needed a set of loaded floppies (8 inch ones, in those days) to
give a customer demonstration. Amit stopped at the traffic on Chowringhee while
I collected the floppies in bubble wrap that had been thrown out of the 17th
floor window.
/dq/media/post_attachments/3fc81b205e0b15f80251104eaee97b88d73aead4804492b441acd9554e48b1c5.jpg)
Then there was the cycle manufacturer in Ludhiana who told Amit that his
biggest problem was accounts payable...he had to keep his suppliers happy, else
something small not delivered on time would stop his production line.
After doing a detailed system study (as was the norm then) we recommended he
buy our two-floppy machine (HCL 8/C Level 20). To Amits surprise the client
wanted to know how many chakkas (floppies) was in the machine that Amits team
had sold to Vardhman. That was a three-floppy (Level 30) system.
Then, said the customer, "I want one with four chakkas!" And he was sold an
HCL 8/C Level 44. The trip back from Ludhiana to Delhi was fun, with Amit trying
to explain to his sales trainee that this was not the norm, and that this was
not how top-of-the-line computers were sold!
When Amit was head of marketing at HCL, he and Dadan Bhai (in the East) had a
special working relationship. With Dadans high-risk thinking and Amitdas
practicality, we had many interesting stories. Lots of them are part of HCL
folklore that fresh trainees were told.
Once, a day before Diwali, Amit left for Calcutta, because Dadan wanted him
there for a big presentation at Bhubaneswar the day after Diwali. Dadan said
there was a lot to prepare, and so they would drive overnight by taxi. During
that Diwali night, as they headed to Bhubaneswar, a detailed briefing followed.
And Amit figured he had little or no role to play in the presentation. So why am
I here, he asked? "Good English," Dadan said. "We need Good English."
| The Passing of a Guru |
| Indian infotech industry veteran Amit Dutta-Gupta who passed away on August 17, was a mentor for many of Indias technology industry leaders, during the second half of a career spanning four decades. He was 65. He was the chairman and CEO of Adroitec Information Systems (formerly Hope Technologies), a company that he founded in the late 80s.
For many infotech industry veterans, Dutta-Gupta was a leader they looked up For CyberMedia publisher and chairman Pradeep Gupta, who reported to HP India managing director Neelam Dhawan says she learnt most of what Eventful Career A year down, he joined the Coca Cola Corporation, first managing the Dutta-Gupta then approached his batch mate from the DCM SMT program, Shiv In 1979, he moved back to Delhi, heading HCLs North region at a time That was also when Dutta-Gupta decided to go his own way, setting up Hope At its peak, Hope had operations in the USA, Europe, Japan and Middle Dutta-Gupta fell ill on August 16, 2010,complaining of discomfort and He is survived by his wife Poornima; two sons, one an engineer in |
Only good-natured Amit would have found that amusing, and he enjoyed telling
me about it when he returned to Delhi.
I worked very closely with Amit on the "Breaking the Common Computer Myths"
campaign that catapulted HCL from being just another computer company to the
leader of the pack. This was my first and only experience of Primary Marketing
where we created and addressed a virgin market of computers for first-time
users. People who had never thought they could afford or use a computer.
The marketing segment really excited Amitda, and he did a fantastic job on
that campaign. The first ad tag-line was "A computer is so simple, even a typist
can operate it". This was immortalized in HCL by SN Chaudhrys comment to a
prospective customer CEO at a road-show: "Why a typist...even you can operate
it."
For the hundreds of bright young men and women that came through HCLs
portals in the years that Amit was there, he was their philosopher, guide and
guru. For them he was the soul of the company. It did not matter whether their
problem was work-related, or personal, or even an issue on world politics or
religion or capitalism or socialism or any subject under the sun. Amitda had a
view. He was well read and he could discuss and argue both sides if needed. I
educated myself in many of these areas in numerous taxi journeys around the
country with him.
What can I say about a friend and colleague who has helped me think through
some of my most difficult moments? Who has very often helped me look at the
world in a different light, and has helped me keep my feet firmly on the ground?
I was looking forward to spending my retired days continuing some of our
discussions that "would change the world".
Where will we get another person like him who is so intelligent and
innovative, yet humble, full of humanity? We have lost a giant. I will miss
having him around.
Arjun Malhotra is chairman of the board at Headstrong