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Down The Memory Lane
Whenever I walk in to the reception area of the Mastek office at SEEPZ these days, my mind invariably does a flip-flop and transports me back to a small cubicle in a Nariman Point building, which used to be the entire office premises of Mastek back in the beginning.
Remember the famous “crowded” ship’s cabin scene in the Marx Brothers classic A Night At The Opera? Well, whenever more than four Mastek employees happened to descend upon the office simultaneously, we had an immediate re-enactment of that hilarious scene, manoeuvring and jostling each other for extra toe-space. Come to think of it, Ashank did resemble Groucho Marx a bit, back then (although I don’t remember him ever telling the cleaning lady to begin her mopping on the ceiling!)
I think the general logic of start-up consultancies those days was to avoid bothering with mundane things like office space and computers (what were clients there for, after all) and instead just get on with the job.
And get on with the job is exactly what Mastek did. All of the company—whether director or employee—was in a learning phase. To everyone’s advantage, the directors learned real fast. Hard to picture Ashank, Sundar, Ketan or Sudhakar poring over reams of compiled COBOL code, Data Flow Diagrams and the like, now. But that’s exactly what they had to do to make sure projects got completed in time and we all got our salary cheques promptly at the end of the month.
Do you know the story of how Mastek was formed? Ketan once told it to me, for an article I wrote on Mastek back in 1992. Here’s what he had to say: “Ashank, Sundar and I [Ketan] were in the same batch at IIM Ahmedabad (1977-79). Ashank had work experience, while Sundar and myself were freshers. We were staying in the same hostel and working on similar projects. We became friends and thought that as a group, as a team, we could click. Right at IIM we felt that we could do something together. We decided that we would all come to Bombay and work for a couple of years first. I joined Nocil, Sundar got a job in HCL, and Ashank went to Godrej. We were staying together, and this ensured that we were always in touch and never lost sight of the target. After about two years we decided to take the plunge. It was a straightforward decision and we just said ‘let’s leave our jobs and begin’. Sundar and I quit first; Ashank joined us a little later; Sudhakar came on board later in 1985.”
Once they made their move, of course there was no turning back. Weathering every start-up storm, the team stuck together, and gradually the company grew into one of the leading software houses in the country. Commenting on what kept the four directors together during those early tough times, Ashank once said: “Two things. One is the value system we cherish. Although our modes of operation and strengths may be different, our core values are still the same. Second, we trust each other. Trust not in a very accountable, management sense; rather, something beyond that: we are secure and have no doubts that when one or the other of us takes any independent decision it will be the right one.”
I have been a witness to this value system that Ashank alluded to, both when I was an employee with Mastek, and again when I participated in the Run Time event at Goa in 1999. Mastek’s people-centric approach where all employees are treated as equals in a large family, and where ethics and integrity count for as much as excellence and dedication, has been a consistent factor throughout its history. And it has paid rich dividends, as has the emphasis on development of the human resource within the organisation. Indeed it is no accident that Mastek was the first company in the industry to attain P-CMM, Level 3.
Simultaneous with the emphasis on quality and excellence, the fact that the friendly culture has been preserved all these years, amidst rapid growth, is commendable indeed. As I continue to interact with Mastek and its people from time to time, I’m quite convinced that no matter how big Mastek grows, the great values on which it was founded will always be maintained and nurtured.
Valentine de Souza was among the first few employees of Mastek, back in 1984. Subsequently, he moved to publishing, and helped launch several computer magazines and websites, including Express Computer, Living Computers and Times Computing. He is currently in a second stint with Express Computer, as Editor.
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