When we at MindTree stop to think about it, we realize how much we owe to you, our parents.

After
all, it is your hard work that has made us who we are today. And it is your blessings that will take us
to greater heights tomorrow.

We would like to thank you – our unsung heroes – by bringing you into our Circle of Life. We know
you will be proud to learn about your children’s contribution to MindTree’s success.

Circle of Life is a publication of MindTree Consulting

 Dear MindTree Parent,

Several years ago, as Vice Chairman of Wipro, I had called on the Chairman of
a large bank. After the meeting was over, the gentleman asked me if I happened
to be related to a Colonel Soota he used to know. I told him that, in fact, I was
his son. To this, the gentleman replied, "Well Mr. Soota, I am so glad to know
that. If you are half the man he used to be, you are a great man". That is
probably the highest honor I have ever received in my entire career! As son of
an Army man, I literally grew up across the country, moving from place to place
with the family. I learnt my values from the selflessness of my father who is no
more and my mother who, in spite of her physical frailty, remains the rock of
Gibraltar for me! As a family we are eagerly awaiting, God willing, the celebration
of her 90th birthday in about 18 months. I could not be who I am today, without
my parents. It occurs to me that MindTree would not be what it is today, without
all of you.

Your child is leading MindTree into its scorching growth. More importantly, your
child is helping build one of India's most respected companies. We were born
exactly six years ago with a vision to create a uniquely global organization. You
will be pleased to know that this financial year, MindTree is aspiring to become
the first IT services company out of India to reach the $100 Million revenue level within six years! In building this business
success, we have not forgotten the critical need to build an organization based on a strong value system. When we were a less
than five hundred people company, we went to each and every MindTree Mind and asked them, what kind of company they
wanted to build? Based on their inputs, we created a value system called CLASS – it stands for Caring, Learning, Achieving,
Sharing and Socially responsible. Today, we are a 2700 people organization that operates from San Jose to New York to London
to Gothenburg to Frankfurt to Dubai to Bangalore to Singapore to Tokyo. In each of these places and beyond, every day, your
children go to work with the mission to build a great organization that will be celebrated for its spirit of inclusion.

In that quest of MindTree Minds, inclusion begins right

-here, with the Circle of Life. This unique piece of
communication will bring you what your child or a
loved one is doing at MindTree. The primary vehicle
of this communication is this news magazine that is
in your hands this moment. Going forward, we will
present it in varying regional languages so that you
can share it with your extended family as well. For
those who have a computer or a DVD player at home,
we will occasionally surprise you with a view of MindTree
as well. Who knows, in one of the issues in the future
– you may even see a feature from your own child,
written especially for you – just like what young Neetha
has reported to her Dad and Mom in this issue about
her first few days at MindTree.

At MindTree, your
child is redefining
what India means to
the world.
We build great, complex software
projects that few Indian companies have
ever built. We create technologies that
get into the products of some
of the best known companies in the
world.

At MindTree, your child is redefining

what India means to the world.

Amidst all this, we want you to know that

we constantly remember you, every day
we come to work.

Without you dear parent, where would

we be today?

Affectionately and with sincere regards,

Ashok

Ashok Soota
Chairman and Managing Director
MindTree Consulting

2
At MindTree, it is our endeavor to
continually share some of our learnings
with the larger world. The initial months
that witnessed the birth of the concept
to the launch of MindTree Consulting,
constitute a body of knowledge that we
are happy to share with everyone. The
"Making of the MindTree" has been told
in the first person by Subroto Bagchi.
Here is the first in the series...

The seeds are sown

When I moved from Wipro to Lucent
Technologies, in April 1998, I worked on In Vizag, the day begins at Park Hotel with a car wash
a strategic study of the future of the
Indian software industry. My eyes were
At the empty Karavali Restaurant (it was not yet time for the afternoon crowd)
opened to several things. It was clear to
of the Taj Gateway, Bangalore, KK and I agreed that there was space to create an
me that the 21st century will be to the
outstanding service based solution focused company; we agreed that the key is
service industries what the 20th century
to create significant shared wealth, and that the biggest kick in life is to make
has been to the manufacturing industries.
extra-ordinary differences in the lives of ordinary people. We agreed that we
I also realized that everything that we see
must share our success with the larger society in which we are all born.
around us would be either software
enabled or software constrained.
However, we realized that the juvenile dream needed the blessing of a wiser man.
I suggested the name of Professor N. Balasubramanian at the Indian Institute of
I felt that an opportunity existed to create
Management, who had headed corporate finance functions in companies like
the next generation, post millennium
Britannia and Wipro, and had taken premature retirement and settled down to a
s o f t w a r e s o l u t i o n s c o m p a n y. I a l s o
life of contemplation and teaching at the IIM. He listened to us in silence for the
wanted to create a value based, socially
most part, neither encouraging, nor giving any undue word of caution. At the end
sensitive organization that would make
of our passionate spill, he asked us to write down a business plan first. He explained
an upfront commitment to societies in
with patience that money was just a means to an end. “Go to some place, sit
which it works. I communicated the idea
quietly and work out a business plan”, he said. As KK and I got up to go, he called
to Krishna Kumar, then Chief Executive
us back and gave one mantra. “When you make your business plan”, he said,
of Wipro's Electronic Commerce Division,
“underestimate the income and overestimate the expenses”.
who was the son of a railway doctor.
KK and I both had very hectic schedules. We were clear that we would not use
There was a strong bond that developed
company time and resources to create our dream. That meant working over
between KK and me, though we met
weekends and meeting at 8 or 9 every night and working till midnight. My wife
socially only once in the ten years I spent
Susmita and KK's wife Akila agreed that they would continue to live with us.
at Wipro.
However, our jobs required us to travel overseas for extended periods of time,
and this disrupted our planning; But, our first loyalties were still to our current
Whenever I used to size up people, my
employers. We had to make more progress! We needed more friends to sign up;
highest rated person was typically one
we needed more believers who could help in the process of making the business
who would fill two conditions: someone I
plan.
would love to work for and someone I
would call first, if I ever got into my own
business. KK met both criteria. So, I called
KK and invited him to lunch on June 17, a
Scouting for friends and money
day that changed our lives, and many
In August 1999, during a visit to the East Coast, US, I met Anjan Lahiri, whom I
other lives. Many months after, KK told
used to admire for his capabilities and his huge modesty, when he worked as a
me that the day was his son Abhi's
rookie in Calcutta. And whenever I saw him, I felt we had to have a shared
birthday. He also said, unusual, propitious
destiny from some point. Anjan was doing extremely well in his work. He was
events usually happened on that day. It
fascinated with my dream to create a truly solutions driven, truly international
turned out to be true. Having made our
company. He was even more fascinated with the idea of making an up-front
tryst with destiny, the next step had to
social commitment to change the face of one government school every year. I
be something concrete.
gave KK a call and told him that we were three now. We rejoiced. Yet, there
remained a vacuum. Where was the money? We needed a sensible person who
would be willing to fund our dream.

We met with venture capitalists, who were quite encouraging. Yet, we knew, beyond
initial interest, what we really needed was a well-documented business plan. We
needed a strong technology leader. We knew of an excellent application person,
and the other an acknowledged star in the technology domain. We wanted both.

continued on page 7...

Partha and Subroto share a cup

of tea at a roadside hut

3
 I was the last child of a small-time government servant, in a
family of five brothers. My earliest memory of my father is as
that of a District Employment Officer at Koraput, Orissa. It
was and remains as back of beyond as you can imagine. There
was no electricity, no primary school nearby and water did
not flow out of a tap. As a result, I did not go to school until
the age of eight; I was home-schooled. My father used to get
transferred every year. The family belongings fitted into the
back of a jeep - so the family moved from place to place and,
without any trouble. My mother would set up an establishment
and get us going. Raised by a widow who had come as a
refugee from the then East Bengal, she was a matriculate when
she married my father. My parents set the foundation of my
life and the value system which makes me what I am today
and largely defines what success means to me today.
As District Employment Officer, my father was given a jeep by
the government. There was no garage in the Office, so the
jeep was parked in our house. My father refused to use it to
commute to the office. He told us that the jeep is an expensive
resource given by the government – he reiterated to us that
it was not 'his jeep' but the government's jeep. Insisting that
he would use it only to tour the interiors, he would walk to his
office on normal days. He also made sure that we never sat in
the government jeep - we could sit in it only when it was
stationary. That was our early childhood lesson in governance
- a lesson that corporate managers learn the hard way, some
never do.
The driver of the jeep was treated with respect due to any
other member of my father's office. As small children, we were
taught not to call him by his name. We had to use the suffix
'dada' whenever we were to refer to him in public or private.
When I grew up to own a car and a driver by the name of Raju
was appointed - I repeated the lesson to my two small
daughters. They have, as a result, grown up to call Raju, 'Raju
uncle' - very different from many of their friends who refer to
their family drivers as 'my driver'. When I hear that term from
a school- or college-going person, I cringe. To me, the lesson
was significant - you treat small people with more respect
than how you treat big people.
It is more important to respect
your subordinates than your
superiors.
Our day used to start with the family huddling around my
mother's chulha – an earthen fire place she would build at
each place of posting where she would cook for the family.
There was no gas, nor electrical stoves. The morning routine
started with tea. As the brew was served, father would ask us
to read aloud the editorial page of The Statesman's 'muffosil'
edition - delivered one day late. We did not understand much
of what we were reading. But the ritual was meant for us to
know that the world was larger than Koraput district and the
English I speak today, despite having studied in an Oriya
medium school, has to do with that routine. After reading the
newspaper aloud, we were told to fold it neatly. Father taught
us a simple lesson. He used to say, "You should leave your
newspaper and your toilet, the way you expect to find it".
That lesson was about showing consideration to others.
Business begins and ends with that simple precept.
Being small children, we were always enamored with
advertisements in the newspaper for transistor radios - we
did not have one. We saw other people having radios in their
homes and each time there was an advertisement of Philips,
Murphy or Bush radios, we would ask father when we could
get one. Each time, my father would reply that we did not
need one because he already had five radios - alluding to his
five sons. We also did not have a house of our own and would
occasionally ask father as to when, like others, we would live
in our own house. He would give a similar reply, "We do not
need a house of our own. I already own five houses". His
replies did not gladden our hearts in that instant. Nonetheless,
we learnt that it is important not to measure personal success
and sense of well being through material possessions.
4
Government houses seldom came with fences. Mother and I
collected twigs and built a small fence. After lunch, my mother
would never sleep. She would take her kitchen utensils and
with those she and I would dig the rocky, white ant infested
surrounding. We planted flowering bushes. The white ants
destroyed them. My mother brought ash from her chulha and
mixed it in the earth and we planted the seedlings all over
again. This time, they bloomed. At that time, my father's
transfer order came. A few neighbors asked my mother why
she was taking so much pain to beautify a government house,
why she was planting seeds that would only benefit the next
occupant. My mother replied that it did not matter to her that
she would not see the flowers in full bloom. She said, "I have
to create a bloom in a desert and whenever I am given a new
place, I must leave it more beautiful than what I had inherited".
That was my first lesson in success.
It is not about what you create
for yourself, it is what you leave
behind that defines success.
My mother began developing a cataract in her eyes when I
was very small. At that time, the eldest among my brothers
got a teaching job at the University in Bhubaneswar and had
to prepare for the civil services examination. So, it was decided
that my mother would move to cook for him and, as her
appendage, I had to move too. For the first time in my life, I
saw electricity in homes and water coming out of a tap. It
was around 1965 and the country was going to war with
Pakistan. My mother was having problems reading and in any
case, being Bengali, she did not know the Oriya script. So, in
addition to my daily chores, my job was to read her the local
newspaper - end to end. That created in me a sense of
connectedness with a larger world. I began taking interest in
many different things. While reading out news about the war,
I felt that I was fighting the war myself. She and I discussed
the daily news and built a bond with the larger universe. In it,
we became part of a larger reality. Till date, I measure my
success in terms of that sense of larger connectedness.
Meanwhile, the war raged and India was fighting on both fronts.
Lal Bahadur Shastri, the then Prime Minster, coined the term
"Jai Jawan, Jai Kishan" and galvanized the nation in to patriotic
fervor. Other than reading out the newspaper to my mother, I
had no clue about how I could be part of the action. So, after
reading her the newspaper, everyday I would land up near the
University's water tank, which served the community. I would
spend hours under it, imagining that there could be spies who
would come to poison the water and I had to watch for them.
I would daydream about catching one and how the next day, I
would be featured in the newspaper. Unfortunately for me,
the spies at war ignored the sleepy town of Bhubaneswar and
I never got a chance to catch one in action. Yet, that act
unlocked my imagination. Imagination is everything. If we can
imagine a future, we can create it, if we can create that future,
others will live in it. That is the essence of success.

Over the next few years, my mother's eyesight dimmed but
in me she created a larger vision, a vision with which I continue
to see the world and, I sense, through my eyes, she was
seeing too. As the next few years unfolded, her vision
deteriorated and she was operated for cataract. I remember,
when she returned after her operation and she saw my face
clearly for the first time, she was astonished. She said, "Oh
my God, I did not know you were so fair". I remain mighty
pleased with that adulation even till date. Within weeks of
getting her sight back, she developed a corneal ulcer and,
overnight, became blind in both eyes. That was 1969. She
died in 2002. In all those 32 years of living with blindness, she
never complained about her fate even once. Curious to know
what she saw with blind eyes, I asked her once if she sees
darkness. She replied, "No, I do not see darkness. I only see
light even with my eyes closed". Until she was eighty years of
age, she did her morning yoga everyday, swept her own room
and washed her own clothes.
To me, success is about the sense
of independence; it is about not
seeing the world but seeing the
light.
Over the many intervening years, I grew up, studied, joined
the industry and began to carve my life's own journey. I began
my life as a clerk in a government office, went on to become
a Management Trainee with the DCM group and eventually
found my life's calling with the IT industry when fourth
generation computers came to India in 1981. Life took me
places - I worked with outstanding people, challenging
assignments and traveled all over the world. In 1992, while I
was posted in the US, I learnt that my father, living a retired
life with my eldest brother, had suffered a third degree burn
injury and was admitted in the Safderjung Hospital in Delhi. I
flew back to attend to him - he remained for a few days in
critical stage, bandaged from neck to toe. The Safderjung
Hospital is a cockroach infested, dirty, inhuman place.
The overworked, under-resourced sisters in the burn ward are
both victims and perpetrators of dehumanized life at its worst.
One morning, while attending to my father, I realized that the
blood bottle was empty and fearing that air would go into his
vein, I asked the attending nurse to change it. She bluntly told
me to do it myself. In that horrible theater of death, I was in
pain and frustration and anger.
Finally when she relented and came, my father opened his
eyes and murmured to her, "Why have you not gone home
yet?" Here was a man on his deathbed but more concerned
about the overworked nurse than his own state. I was stunned
at his stoic self. There I learnt that there is no limit to how
concerned you can be for another human being and what is
the limit of inclusion you can create. My father died the next
day.
He was a man whose success was defined by his principles,
his frugality, his universalism and his sense of inclusion. Above
all, he taught me that success is your ability to rise above
your discomfort, whatever may be your current state. You
can, if you want, raise your consciousness above your
immediate surroundings. Success is not about building material
comforts - the transistor that he never could buy or the house
that he never owned. His success was about the legacy he
left, the memetic continuity of his ideals that grew beyond
the smallness of a ill-paid, unrecognized government servant's
world.
My father was a fervent believer in the British Raj. He sincerely
doubted the capability of the post-independence Indian political
parties to govern the country. To him, the lowering of the
Union Jack was a sad event. My mother was the exact
opposite. When Subhash Bose quit the Indian National Congress
and came to Dacca, my mother, then a schoolgirl, garlanded
him. She learnt to spin khadi and joined an underground
movement that trained her in using daggers and swords.
Consequently, our household saw diversity in the political
outlook of the two. On major issues concerning the world,
the Old Man and the Old Lady had differing opinions.
In them, we learnt the power of
disagreements, of dialogue and
the essence of living with
diversity in thinking.
Success is not about the ability to create a definitive dogmatic
end state; it is about the unfolding of thought processes, of
dialogue and continuum.
Two years back, at the age of eighty-two, mother had a
paralytic stroke and was lying in a government hospital in
Bhubaneswar. I flew down from the US where I was serving
my second stint, to see her. I spent two weeks with her in the
hospital as she remained in a paralytic state. She was neither
getting better nor moving on. Eventually I had to return to
work. While leaving her behind, I kissed her face. In that
paralytic state and a garbled voice, she said, "Why are you
kissing me, go kiss the world." Her river was nearing its
journey, at the confluence of life and death, this woman who
came to India as a refugee, raised by a widowed mother, no
more educated than high school, married to an anonymous
government servant whose last salary was Rupees Three
Hundred, robbed of her eyesight by fate and crowned by
adversity - was telling me to go and kiss the world!
Success to me is about Vision. It is the ability to rise above
the immediacy of pain. It is about imagination. It is about
sensitivity to small people. It is about building inclusion. It is
about connectedness to a larger world existence. It is about
personal tenacity. It is about giving back more to life than you
take out of it. It is about creating extra-ordinary success with
ordinary lives.
Thank you very much; I
wish you good luck and
Godspeed. Go, kiss the
world.
(This article is based on
the speech that was
delivered by Subroto
Bagchi, Chief Operating
Officer, MindTree
Consulting to the Class of
2006 at the Indian
Institute of Management,
Bangalore on July 2,
2004.)
Subroto’s parents Makhan
Gopal and Labonya Prova
Bagchi, circa 1940. This is
the only available
photograph of the couple.
5
 When the doctor prescribes medicines, have you noticed that
only the chemist understands his handwriting? Similarly, the
client also has no clue about software and technology. So in
short there has to be someone like the pharmacy guy who
can understand what the client wants and convey this to
the people who actually develop the software for him. This
is the job of the business analyst. So you see my job is
really crucial. If I miss out what the client says, then the
developers miss it out, and thus the client gets something
which he didn’t ask for.

For every project, there is a project manager who is like a

king. He takes care of all our problems. Then there are senior
and junior developers. In my team, there was a senior
business analyst. I have a project manager, who makes me
feel so comfortable that I forget that it’s my first project,
but yes he is particular that we all complete our work on
time. At first it was difficult to relate to my team members.
Now it has changed.

August 18 is the birthday of MindTree. I am all excited about

it! On the ethnic day we had to wear the traditional attire,
for which there were prizes. I was a bit confused what to
wear since I have parts of Kerala, Tamil Nadu and Pondicherry
in me! I simply can’t put in words how it feels to be in a
Dearest dad & mom,
place where all are like-minded. Everyday seems like my
birthday, full of surprises and loads of fun.
Hi! I am missing you people so much. I am giving up my job
at MindTree and coming back… Hello? Did you expect me to
It’s not just the fun, dad. I meet people from all walks of
write something like that? Sorry to disappoint you guys. I
life, all of us have one thing in common — the will to learn
am having so much fun here. Your call everyday – “Are you
and make a difference to society. Being a part of MindTree
ok? Did you have dinner?” reminds me of school.
gives me the satisfaction of playing a small part towards a
s o c i a l c a u s e . We s u p p o r t N G O s a n d a l s o a s c h o o l a t
Remember dad, after I returned from my summer project at
Dharmapuri. Did you know that the logo of MindTree was
Tidel Park, Chennai, I was all scared and intimidated. I felt so
designed by a spastic child? Also, the children of Spastics
small and lonely inside. But at MindTree, it’s so much like
Society of India have done all the paintings that adorn the
home. The first time I came here, the familiar feeling of
walls of MindTree.
nervousness set in as all I could see were these two huge
buildings. I just wanted to run. But this is not like a summer
It is really a different experience to look at the world through
project which one leaves after two or three months. It’s my
their eyes. I have heard of and seen companies that spend
first job. I have to stay... I can’t come whining to you dad:
money on giving their brands and workplaces a new look.
“I am scared, so I came back”.
But what is the use daddy? I feel that MindTree’s method is
touching so many lives. I get much more than job
So I set forth. I felt as if everybody was watching my every
satisfaction, as I return home every day.
move. I felt better to be in the room with 10 other freshers.
For 15 days, we attended sessions — discussions and
platforms to express our views. These programs and
“camps”, not only introduced us to the world of MindTree,
I feel that my work has played a
but made us feel secure that we have someone to turn to
when we feel out of place. Mom, remember in school, I always
significant role in changing
hung around with my classmates. But when you go to a new
school, you like to be with someone who is in a class higher
someone’s life.
than you. Similarly, we had informal sessions with colleagues
I can also refer someone for a job here if he/she has the
who had the same job profile, but had more experience. They
qualities to be a MindTree mind. How nice it would be if I
shared with us their funny experiences with customers. We
could make someone else’s life as good as mine.
were also treated to a special dinner on the last day, where
they recognized and appreciated “me” and my individuality.
I know that you guys have seen me through the worst. There
were times when I had totally lost hope about getting a job.
After the training, you know what I thought daddy? “My
By becoming a MindTree mind, I have got a job that makes
honeymoon period is over! Now get ready to be
me proud. Now I walk with my head held high. I am proud
slaughtered!” I joined as a business analyst for a project. I
to be a part of MindTree and I hope to make MindTree also
have explained this so many times to you but I can picture
proud of me. Wish me all the best!
the questioning look on your face! Let me explain with a
simple example.
Now you know why I don’t come home often, don’t you?
A business analyst is like a doctor, who is visited by a person
Lots of hugs and kisses,
who is ill, because he does not know what ails him. It’s the
doctor’s job to find out, and prescribe the treatment. Of
Neetha
course, a business analyst’s job is much more than this.

You have come across LIC agents, right? This is similar but
has to do with IT, and has a lot of tailoring and customization.
Formerly, Indian software companies focused on solutions
for companies with problems, and not on their overall
business. It is we business analysts who study the client’s
business and problems, and try to find solutions. We might
either develop a product for them or advice them on using a
current product, and even assist them to do so. Our mission
emphasizes ‘business enabling’ solutions for our customers.
MindTree mind Neetha Menon, along with her parents
Viswam Menon and Lalitha Viswam

6
Volvo Group is a world-leading manufacturer of trucks, buses
and construction equipment. Founded in 1927, Volvo today
has approximately 81,000 employees, production in 25
countries and operates in more than 185 markets.
Known as the 'City of Gold', Dubai is the hub of commerce
and tourism in the Middle East. Based in Dubai is Emirates,
one of the fastest growing airlines in the world. It is the
largest carrier in the Middle East and flies to 77 destinations
in 54 countries. Emirates has received more than 250
international awards for excellence since its launch in 1985.

From left to right: Saravanan K, Arun Nair, Jikku
Jolly, Nirupa Iyer, Ratheesh M R
Volvo IT (a subsidiary of Volvo) chose MindTree as its IT
partner in 2001. Since then over 125 MindTree Minds have
been working on various projects, spread across Gothenburg
in Sweden, Lyon in France, Greensborough in the US and in
Bangalore. MindTree, in close cooperation with Volvo IT, is
involved in developing key business solutions for the Volvo
group companies in the areas of sales support,
manufacturing and after sales market.
From left to right: Manoj Karanth, Vinay Dixit,
Lomash Upadhyay, Ismail Sharrif, Naveen Patel,
Jaydeep Nargund, Sudheer Kotagiri, Ragupathi
Palaniappan, Karthik Kalkur, Sivakumar Janarthanan
Emirates chose MindTree as its IT partner in 2004. MindTree
minds are assisting Emirates in a key project – in developing
a Cargo Management System. There are over 70 MindTree
minds working at Emirates, based in Dubai. They assist in
the design of the application, in its development using state-
of-the-art technologies and in testing. Through them,
MindTree continues to gain valuable knowledge of the airlines
industry.

continued from page 3...

The best way to make progress would be to take off from

our regular work, in to a hotel, far away from Bangalore and
think through the Mission, Vision, and a first-cut business
plan that could be given to potential venture capitalists. Vizag
was an excellent idea.

Anjan flew down from the US, and KK and I took our two
cars and four other friends to reach the Park Hotel on the
24 of December after staying overnight at Tirupati. Out of
the four friends, one had mediated in my discussion with the
first venture capitalist, the second was the applications
technology person to whom I had spoken to, the third was
a professional friend and a potential founder. The fourth was
the potential Head Nerd who had come up with 30 questions
- N. S. Parthasarathy, at that time, General Manager at
Wipro's Technology Solutions. He was the son of a railway
ticket collector, and had a brilliant academic career at Birla
Institute of Technology and Sciences, Pilani, and at IIT,
Kharagpur, where he did his Masters.

The drive of 1200 kms to Vizag turned out to be long and

arduous. But the team stuck together. For the next one
week, we were locked up in the making of the mission, Chetan, the creator of
vision and core values of MindTree. our logo, from the
Spastics Society of
to be continued... Karnataka

7
 MindTree’s association with the Spastics Society of Karnataka dates back to our inception in 1999, when one of its children
designed MindTree’s logo. The relationship has become stronger over the years with the children becoming an integral part of
MindTree’s growth. No MindTree event is complete without the participation of the children and they are ever ready to create
those beautiful paintings that adorn the walls of MindTree buildings. In an interview with MindTree mind Nagaraj Kulkarni,
Rukmini Krishnaswamy, Director of Spastics Society of Karnataka shared glimpses of this deep bonding between the two
institutions.

Can you please tell us about Spastics Society of Karnataka?

Spastics Society was started about 22 years ago. It was first called Spastics Society of India by a parent of a spastic child -
Mithu Alur. That continued for about 5-6 years. Spastics Society of Karnataka was established in 1994 and we became
autonomous.

What is the relation that MindTree shares with the Spastics Society and how has it benefited the society?
In simple words, MindTree has been our greatest friend. We look up to them for various aspects:

1) Filling the future for our children: There is a great partnership with MindTree for our children; MindTree helps them with
placement, employment or internship.
2) Socialistic attitude: MindTree considers all human beings equal. They come here with lot of sensitivity and humane attitude and
they want to do their best. That’s again a very sharing quality for both MindTree and the Spastics Society.
3) Philosophy: MindTree has a philosophy and practice which fit into our philosophy and practice. That is, you look at human beings
from various projections, beyond work force. Look at the child as human being. We look beyond what a child can do as a human
being and this is again a common sharing element we both have.

Above all, parents of these children are our partners. That is something that we are proud of.

What is the message you have for the society at large?

“Please look at the person beyond physical form. Try to understand them within. You do not know what they are within and they
can be such beautiful people. When we look at disabled people, don’t look at them only from outside, look at them from what
they are inside.”

This beautiful painting is a cherished present from the children of the Spastics Society
of Karnataka to MindTree.

If you would like to own a copy of the painting, please check the appropriate box in
the enclosed feedback form and send it back to us.

We would be happy to send a framed copy to you.

We invite all members of the MindTree family to our Circle of Life. Do send your articles, feedback and any other
contributions to circleoflife@mindtree.com or to Manoj Chandran, MindTree Consulting, #42, 27th Cross Road,
Banashankari Stage II, Bangalore - 560 070. We are sure with your enthusiasm, we can complete this circle and
make it larger than life.

All content, logos and pictures are copyrights of the respective companies and individuals. For Internal Circulation Only: Copyright MindTree 2005
Design and Content: Ekon Solution Editorial: Jayesh Chakravarthi and Manoj Chandran