There is an easy camaraderie between them. I meet S. Ramadorai, Vice-Chairman of TCS, and his wife Mala, a Hindustani vocalist, at their Chennai home. He asks her to give me coffee, she says: “ You give her coffee, and make it too.” As he heads to the kitchen, she adds, “He is the coffee maker in the house, especially after he’s bought the coffee machine from the UK.”

My heart sinks; in a Tamil Iyer home I had hoped for the best of filter kaapi . But the cup he brings is remarkably good. Mala laughs when I say so, adding, “he is very particular about his coffee; first he said he hates machine coffee. But our son in London (who teaches economics at Oxford) was using it. He wanted to buy it and I said: ‘Yes, but only if you’ll use it.”

Now that he has retired as the TCS CEO, does she get to see more of him at home?

“Not at all, that was quite a con job, as I tell people. When he said he was retiring, I was happy thinking he’ll now spend more time at home. But it has become worse, because he wears so many hats.” Apart from being the Chairman of Tata Elxsi, Tata Technologies, CMC, he is also chairman of the National Skill Development Agency. “He is very, very busy, and whenever he takes up something he wants to give his best, which is good. I encouraged him to take up the NSDA role because I really think it is worthwhile.”

On his role as TCS Vice-Chairman, Ramadorai says “it is mostly strategy as part of the Board’s deliberations, R&D and advising the top management. If I need to meet clients where I see opportunities for TCS, I find the time to help them. It’s more by their calling than simply my volunteering and interfering in their operations. I’ve completely taken myself out of operations. If they seek mentorship, guidance, I am always available.”

He spends more time in the smaller technology companies in the Tata group; “I review their programmes, and am trying to pull them out of their current way of thinking, and advising them newer technologies, how to scale up, challenging them on certain assumptions and bringing in independent directors who can help them.”

Hindustani vocalist Mala has been performing during the Chennai music season for 10 years. A graduate in Hindustani classical music from Mumbai’s SNDT University, she taught for many years, and was vice-principal of Bombay International School and, later, head of training at IL&FS. She resigned 12 years ago and began heading the City School for Special Education, besides setting up Maitree at TCS to promote music, theatre workshops, yoga and trekking among other activities.

Her favourite classical singers are Kishori Amonkar and Prabha Atre. She loves listening to ghazals, but doesn’t render them as “I am scared of my Urdu pronunciation… the meaning changes if you don’t get it right. As singers we can hear sounds better than most lay people, but then when you sing, the sound has to be perfect.”

So, what is the common meeting ground for a technology man and a classical singer? She is all smiles as he says that she has sharpened his sensibilities when it comes to “not only appreciating music but also arts and culture”. And there are some causes where they work together.

As he joined TCS a few months before their marriage, and stayed on for 37 years before stepping down as CEO in 2009, Mala calls TCS Ramadorai’s “first wife”.

Passion for causes She has also roped him in for the mega project of building a special hospital for the Trust (Society for the Rehabilitation of Crippled Children) that runs the school for special children headed by her. Ramadorai explains that after Independence, Jawaharlal Nehru had given 2.5 acres, “bang opposite Haji Ali, for the treatment of polio-afflicted children. Since land is available, we’re building a super-speciality hospital for children with 150 beds in the first phase.”

The cost is a whopping Rs 85 crore, and with a quiet smile this influential man says, “We’ve raised it by asking people… begging and borrowing!” The money has come from the Tatas through TCS, and trusts and foundations of Bajaj, Atul Nishar, Sangeeta Jindal, Hemendra Kothari, HDFC Asset Management, Amit Chandran of Bain Capital and others. Work on the hospital, which has a tie-up with Dr Devi Shetty’s Narayana Hrudayalaya, will begin by March 2014 and completed by March 2016.

In Phase 2, costing Rs 150 crore, 200 more beds will be added. So where will the money come from?

“We will start raising funds now; I don’t see a problem because the same families are ready… for such projects you have to show people the results to gain confidence. Just showing paper drawings is not enough,” he says.

Ramadorai is now devoting a lot of time to the challenging job of chairing the NSDA, the umbrella organisation under which come 21 ministries, State skill missions, the National Skill Development Council headed by the Prime Minister, and the National Skill Development Coordination Board headed by the Deputy Chairman of the Planning Commission.

A new challenge The objective is to impart job-oriented skills to youth (aged 15-24) either in school or later. The challenge, he says, is the high rate of dropouts in the 8th, 10th and 12th grades. Vocational training is offered side by side with conventional education such as science and math. “But people are hesitant to go in for vocational education, which is always thought of as inferior to general education even though it may not get you jobs.”

To encourage its acceptance, the Agency has introduced pilots at schools in Assam, Haryana and Karnataka, where alongside the usual subjects students can opt for training in welding, retail, IT and IT-enabled services, healthcare, and construction — carpentry, masonry, plumbing, electrical work.

The response is encouraging but “challenges abound at the ground level. So we’re partnering with NGOs, involving organisations such as the Tata Institute of Social Sciences and bringing on board corporates such as the Tatas, Birlas, L&T and others because, ultimately, they are the demand segment.”

This role involves quite a bit of travel, and he is most happy with the response in North East States such as Assam. “This is rewarding work and, quite often, I too travel with him on such work, even though he doesn’t always travel for my music shows,” quips Mala. But she’s happy that even though he is extremely busy, the pressure is less. “When you are the CEO of such a large company (TCS) and growing it, the pressure is tremendous. But minus executive responsibilities, it’s a different kind of pressure. I find him more relaxed.”

Holidays And then, of course, there are the holidays… “hopefully to places with no connectivity,” says Mala, adding, “We went to Russia, Bhutan and, last year, Canada with a group of friends. And instead of the computer, he is behind the camera during holidays.” Ramadorai loves photographing wildlife and moments of natural beauty such as the sunrise, sunset and water bodies. On his favourite destination he says, “The North East is so beautiful; having travelled there five to six times for the NSDA work, I find it fascinating.” But London is their favourite city, where they spend time with their only son. “If there is a cricket match going on, I go for it,” he smiles.

At home, the day begins with a one-hour walk around Malabar Hill, where they live. While Mala loves to cook, what about her husband?

“Oh, he can’t make anything,” she says. “I can live on salads. And I know how to cook; I can make rice and dahi ,” he protests. And of course coffee, even though on the machine!

And some politics…

S. Ramadorai is happy with the Aam Admi Party’s “amazing performance in Delhi, which has shaken both the UPA and the NDA. If they can bring governance to a different level, that will be a huge achievement. Anyway, they’ve created a badly needed disruption in the political system”. He hopes that in 2014 Indians will vote judiciously and decisively so “we can have a stable government, but with the necessary checks and balances”.

On India Inc’s complaints on governance and decisions, he says, “We have to do our job and we have done it in the IT industry, without waiting for anything or saying that ‘because the government hasn’t done this, we can’t do that’. Having said that, there are certain things the government has done, but they have to be implemented. You can’t give clearances and, when it comes to implementation, the challenges remain. So how do you streamline the whole system for people who are honest and willing to invest, they have to focus on that”.

On complaints of governance being at a standstill because bureaucrats are not signing files for fear of being targeted if the Government changes in 2014, Ramadorai says: “This was both the complaint and worry among industrialists. But in the last two months we’ve seen some change. People are taking decisions and the system is enabling them to do so. It went completely the other way because of CAG, CBI, and so on.”

His dream for the future is “an India where there will be equal opportunities for all. Nobody should be denied anything because of their class, social standing, religion or caste”. He is optimistic that the youth of India will drive such a change. “If they want a different India, they will create it… It is possible; if we put our hearts into it, it won’t take more than a decade. We’ve seen the ability of youngsters on the ground… the youth are waiting for the right opportunities.”

On fellow corporate head honcho Nandan Nilekani possibly contesting the Lok Sabha polls, he says, “If he decides to do it, I would welcome it.”

So, what about him? As he shakes his head, Mala chimes, “As long as he’s in the Home party, I’m happy!”

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