Be it education, infrastructure or traffic problems, Natarajan's Zensar Foundation is involved in it all
Be it education, infrastructure or traffic problems, Natarajan's Zensar Foundation is involved in it all"You want to write about me," asks Ganesh Natarajan? "I am just the grandson of a penniless school teacher from Vadiveeswaram in Tamil Nadu whose sole aim in life was to marry and beget children."
His father, Natarajan, was the oldest of the 11 surviving children and after his BSc, moved to Kolkata, where Ganesh was born. At the age of five, Ganesh moved to Tatisilway, near Ranchi. The next 17 years of Ganesh Natarajan's life were spent at a military school in Namkum, playing gilli danda with the village kids. He was only six when his father set up Seva Kendra to impart free education to the village children. The seed of social service was planted in him at a young age and he and his sister spent time singing devotional songs and reading inspirational books to the children.
After completing his mechanical engineering at the Birla Institute of Technology and industrial engineering from National Institute of Industrial engineers in Mumbai, Ganesh got his first job at Crompton Greaves. With a twinkle in his eyes he remembers how a certain young lady also interviewed with Crompton on the same day.
Fifteen months later, they were married. "We shared an umbrella in the monsoon and I fell in love," he declares.u00a0 Twenty-eight years later his wife, Uma, is still his soul mate and best friend.
Ganesh got into IT when Crompton started a production planning system. Later in 1985, he moved to a small software development company in Mumbai and realised he enjoyed sales. His career took off and he never looked back. In 1988, he got headhunted by NIIT, eventually moving to Delhi as head of consulting. In 1991, he got headhunted as CEO of Aptech. A chance meeting 10 years later, with Sanjeev Goenka at a CII delegation in Lisbon, led him to his current job as CEO and vice chairman of Zensar.
Seven years ago, he set up the Zensar Foundation with an aim to make a difference, be it in Pune, Hyderabad, Poland or the US. They conduct programmes, have Akanksha centres, and have adopted the village of Chandan Nagar and provide counselling to children and adults about AIDS, healthcare, education among others. "The measure of our Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) is not in how much money we spend", declares Ganesh proudly, "but in how much human effort goes into our work."u00a0
Employees are therefore encouraged to give Zensarian hours to the CSR effort. With Ganesh leading by example, it is no surprise that Zensar has a high track record in social responsibility.
Today, along with wife Uma, he has set up Global Talent Track to help create employable people for industry. Ganesh has also set up the Nataraj Education Foundation whose primary focus is to ensure quality education to people who cannot pay, especially in remote areas. He is also involved with Pune Connect, an organisation set up in conjunction with CII and other corporates and NGO's to initially deal with the city infrastructure and traffic problems.
With all his various commitments and his hectic travel schedule, it would appear as if he has no time for leisure. The Natarajans work 24 hours a day, seven days a week and occasionally surface.
Travel is a compulsion and Ganesh's calendar is planned till as far as April next year. "It gives me very little flexibility but I am lucky to have fantastic people to assist me and truly speaking my work energises me. I do not get tired of this incessant travel," he ends with a grin.
