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April 12, 2001
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Money > Business Headlines > Report April 12, 2001 |
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The Dewang I knew: Harish MehtaHarish Mehta, chairman and managing director, Onward Technologies His parting is a national loss. Personally, for me it is another earthquake. This man lived a fast life. His flying schedules were very stressful. Since he was hyperactive and constantly flew from one city to another; he would fly to a city deliver a lecture and go to another city later.
But he was not like a machine; he was an extremely emotional man and sensitive about relationships. My personal assistant Laxman knew him as well as I knew him. I would say I am at a loss of words now. Dewang's father Pradyumanbhai worked in a pharma company and his mother Bhanuben was a housewife. He was born in Umreth in Anand district, Gujarat. He studied in Bhartiya Vidya Bhavan School in Delhi. He was a chartered accountant as well as a cost accountant. He then went to England to study graphic design. His marriage to Manisha Shelat ended in a divorce seven years ago. He was deeply religious and a devotee of Shirdi Sai Baba and Pandurang Shastri. I presume he was a perfectionist. He did not develop a second line of leadership and he ended up being everywhere and doing everything. He was my dear friend and he made it a point to visit Bombay, when in India, on the last Friday of every month to participate in the Mumbai Computer Club meeting. Another aspect of his personality was that he vehemently wanted to project his image as a neutral person in representing India rather than any particular company's interest. Scores of time he was offered directorships in multinational and Indian IT companies but because of his proximity to government companies he refused. He always said that India is a software paradise but it should become a software powerhouse. His most-often repeated statement was: "I want to see 15 million Internet homes through cable TV." He wanted to retire in Kulu-Manali and spend time teaching children. But knowing him, it was very difficult for us to take it seriously. (As told to Kanti Bhatt)
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I met him at a conference in 1991 when he was the EDP manager at Orissa Cements. Nasscom was a small association with just 50 members then. At that time, Nasscom was looking for an executive director. Though he was earning Rs 15,000 in his previous job, he took up the Nasscom offer for just Rs 10,000. For several years, he worked from a small office in Ashoka Hotel, Delhi.