A passion for theatre

ICE PEOPLE

What does Nihilent Technologies president & CEO L C Singh have in common with advertising gurus like Alyque Padamsee and Bharat Dhabolkar? Theatre.

Like Dhabolkar and Padamsee, L C Singh too has a passion for theatre. So much so that when he was the head of marketing at Tata Consultancy Services in 1991, he chose theatre as a medium for promoting a software product.

In collaboration with theatre group Yatri, he worked out an hour long play to promote E-x, an accounting software package. The results were so gratifying that he used theatre to launch another software, R2.

Singh, a technologist with impeccable credentials, is an engineer who passed out of Banaras Hindu University and an alumnus of Harvad Business School with over three decades of experience in the IT industry.

He began his career with the State Bank of India. Next he took up an assignment as a consultant to the Iranian government.

During his stint in Iran, he did a diploma in script writing. The next stop was of course TCS and then Zensar Technologies. Then came the transition from professional to entrepreneur "" he founded Nihilent Technologies in 2000.

Nihilent today is an emerging technology and integrated solution provider for global businesses. Another of his contributions in Nihilent is the conceptualisation and creation of a holistic knowledge management framework called MC3.

MC3 has been successfully implemented in the South African Revenue Service (SARS) and South African Authorized Securities Depository (STRATE).

Yet Singh's heart clearly still remains in theatre. This year's Yatri's silver jubilee celebrations have been sponsored by his company.

Ask him what his dream in life is and he replies: " I want to write a play that captures the spirit of Indian culture and spirituality," he says. Time to move on to centrestage, perhaps?

The quiet MD

Simple living and high thinking. That, in a nutshell, is what marks R Chandrasekaran, recently promoted as executive vice president and managing director at Cognizant Technology Solutions Corporation, from the rest of the crowd.

To be sure, he shares a lot of south Indian traits. His colleagues describe him as erudite, introspective, unassuming, straight forward, humble, God-fearing and a connoisseur of the good things that life has to offer, south Indian food and Japanese cars included.

Says one colleague: "Everything about Chandra will reveal a bright Madrasi who has proved it in the global marketplace. From trivia to technology, Chandra's interests span an exciting gamut""the latest gizmos, travel, architecture, Carnatic music and photography."

Chandra is, of course hot on Carnatic music. He has the raagas and the varnas, the schools and the composers at his fingertips. He looks forward to the December music season every year.

"Why, I have even dashed from the airport on my way back from business trips to the sabhas to make it to my favourite singer's concert," he confesses. U Srinivas and flutist Shashank are his favorite instrumentalists.

When he is not traveling, which is rare, Chandra's day begins with a jog. A South Indian filter coffee and the "The Hindu" make his morning. At office and otherwise, he is known to be soft-spoken, friendly and an approachable "gentleman boss."

And yes, the man who was born and brought up in the temple town of Sirkali has a keen eye for south Indian temples.

"I have been to most of the south Indian temples, but I prefer going to the less crowded ones in and around Sirkali these days," he says.

Chandra spends as much time as he can with his aged parents, 9-year old son Aravind and wife Padma (an independent career woman in her own right).

The architect of the company's early verticalisation program, Chandra has been at Cognizant since its inception in 1994.

With over 20 years of experience in global software companies, he has a bachelors in mechanical engineering from the Regional Engineering College in Trichy and an MBA from the Indian Institute of Management, Bangalore.

In his expanded role, Chandra will assume full responsibility for all development centres in India. He will also be responsible for expanding Cognizant's sourcing strategy, with a focus on China.