My introduction to Bengaluru (then Bangalore) happened in 1983. I joined Wipro fresh from business school and stayed at the Gautam Hotel. It was ₹70 for a double room. We’d hang out at the Coffee House, The Only Place, The Rice Bowl, and a Chinese rooftop restaurant at Ashoka – whose name I have forgotten – where Shyam and the West Wind played. I recently caught up with the band on YouTube with a grainy video of their performance on Doordarshan in the 1980s. The oomph of the performance transported me right back to those times -- full of fire, energy, dreams, and possibilities.
I relocated to Mumbai with Wipro and returned to Bangalore as — what else? — a start-up team. We launched Computer Point in January 1985 on 43 Dickenson Road. It became India’s first computer retail chain. Then I was off to the Bay Area in the U.S. to set up Sonata Software, a sister company of Computer Point, before coming back to Bangalore in 1989 to set up my technology venture, Microland.
Eye on future
Today, I am a fully-baked Bengalurian. Bengaluru is a great mix of the traditional and the modern, with an unwavering eye on the future. Over the years, I have watched the city evolve. It has progressed from being the nucleus of scientific research in the country to becoming a global technological powerhouse. The change has been quick, dramatic, and exhilarating for a technophile like me.
When I returned from the U.S., I knew I was returning to an India bubbling with potential. The winds of economic liberalization were blowing. India was ready to transition from a nation of government-regulated and family-run businesses to an era of exciting entrepreneurship and experimentation. I knew it would take a lot of work for first-time entrepreneurs, but the challenge was irresistible.
On a firm foundation
Texas Instruments, in 1985, had already laid the foundation for Bengaluru’s future as an IT hub. When I arrived, it was to a city of lush tree-lined avenues and gardens, of benne masala dosa and boisterous beer pubs. The industry of Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) combined with the vision of the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) and the academic promise of the Indian Institute of Science (IISc). The future of India’s reputation as a technology hub was being put in place by Infosys, Wipro, and Biocon. India’s first coffee chain, Café Coffee Day, joined this heady mix.
The work ethics and the integrity of the IT industry captured my imagination. How could I not sink my roots into Bengaluru? I could dream without fetters. This, in no small measure, helped Microland become a successful pioneer of networking technology in the country. Our goal was to build an IT services company that would achieve revenues of ₹250 million (U.S. $15 million) in five years. But we crossed that target, becoming a company with a revenue of ₹1,000 million (U.S. $60 million), making us, at the time, the fastest-growing Indian IT company.
In the pub capital of India
On July 1, 1993, eleven eminent CEOs of the Indian IT Industry converged together at Pub World on Residency Road and started the Beer Drinkers Association of IT (BAIT) to build camaraderie amongst the CEOs of the industry. A first of its kind in the world and this could only happen in Bangalore, the Pub Capital of India.
I couldn’t have asked for anything better. By 1997, I had a wonderful circle of inspiring friends, and between golf at the KGA and badminton at the Bangalore Club, it was time to think bigger.
Towards the end of the 1990s, we shifted our gaze to the arrival of the dot-com era. We launched a series of Internet-based companies, from Planetasia.com, which became India’s first professional Internet services provider, to ITspace.com, which was India’s first tech portal, Media2India.net which addressed the need for managing online advertising, and Indya.com, a consumer portal that created several historic landmarks.
Indya.com brought in investors that included John Sculley, the ex-CEO of Apple Computers and Pepsico; Vinod Khosla, co-founder of Sun Microsystems and renowned venture capitalist; Rajat Gupta, the then CEO of McKinsey and Yogen Dalal, managing partner of Mayfield Ventures. Rupert Murdoch of News Corporation wrote a cheque for U.S. $50 million for a one-third share in Indya. The company was valued at ₹7,500 million even before it was launched. We could do all this because of the availability of top talent, excellent infrastructure, and a will-do spirit.
Soon after we set up these ventures, Planteasia.com was merged with a US entity and today operates as Brillio. Media2India was merged with MediaTurf, a EuroRSCG Co, to be called Ignitee. And Net Brahma Technologies, which we started in order to build IP telecom software stacks, was sold to a U.S.-based telecom networking company called MetroOptix.
While we were busy with one technology initiative after another, my wife Kalpana began playing a central role in a first-of-its-kind experiment in urban governance through a Private Public Partnership (PPP) called the Bangalore Agenda Task Force (BATF). The BATF looked at urban sanitation, redevelopment of urban spaces, traffic management, and road safety. Kalpana also took on the role as a member of the advisory board of the Bangalore Political Action Committee (B.PAC), a non-partisan citizen’s group to improve governance in Bangalore and enhance the quality of life of every Bangalorean.
Today, as I stroll down the Sri Chamarajendra Park — more commonly known as Cubbon Park — on Sundays with friends and share a South Indian breakfast at a nearby restaurant, I know the bet I took on Bangalore has proven correct. Today, Microland has evolved into a full-fledged global digital services company that helps enterprises adopt NextGen digital infrastructure. Our journey reflects the arc of Bengaluru as the IT hub of the nation.
Looking back, I can’t thank Bengaluru enough for the kindness it showered on us and for taking us into its fold. Everything, from the bureaucracy to the political machinery, supported what we were doing. Today we would not want to be anywhere else. We have tried to give back, as much as we can, to this beautiful city and its people.
I am not surprised to see that in the last 35 years, organizations like Accenture, HP, IBM and Daimler, amongst several global organisations, have settled down here. The city is now home to massively successful entrepreneurial initiatives like Flipkart, Big Basket, and Swiggy. I know Bengaluru won’t stop here. Talent and investments from across the world — and not just across the country — are being drawn here.
Beyond beer-on-tap
Bengaluru is quickly growing beyond the beer-on-tap and apple-pie-under-Mangalore-tiles to craft beer at tony microbreweries and menus in spiffy restaurants with a firm eye on sustainable gastronomy. We are now bursting at the seams with cutting-edge start-ups that are building tomorrow’s decision sciences, providing technology to EV manufacturers across the world, and creating Artificial Intelligence that is finding its way into the top financial, security, energy, healthcare, defence, and consumer services across the globe. I can feel the pulse of Bangalore throbbing. This city has much more to give than can be imagined. I can’t wait to see where it goes next.
(The author is founder, chairman and managing director, Microland Limited)
