Making it big in ‘a different world’

Germany was a totally different world, with a very different language and culture, and in some ways, a harder world. I still remember my first winter in Germany. I had arrived in October with a suitcase of what we generally wore in Mumbai in October. In November, the temperature fell to zero degrees and December turned out to be the coldest winter in 50 years, with temperatures as low as -20 degrees. It was dead cold, physically and emotionally too, as I missed my family. From a secure world of love and affection, I felt I was thrown into a completely strange place. Fortunately, the people were very friendly and I managed to do well in my studies.

After six years of design and project management, I joined Texas Instruments (TI) Germany as technical systems engineer and later worked with LSI LOGIC Inc and Cadence Design Systems. I then started my own company together with two other friends, who were also ex-TI employees. We called it (rather cheekily) XTI, or Extended Technical Interface! We did high technology marketing and sales for start-ups that wanted to come to Europe. At that time, ARM was one of our customers.

Unfortunately, my partners did not get along well. I was married and my family was growing. We all needed to have some kind of stability in life. We therefore decided to wind up the company and I joined ARM in 2000 as regional manager for Central European operations.

Young at heart and looking to get better!

Today, I am heading commercial operations at ARM Embedded Technologies in India and enjoy working with my team. I am an admirer of Peter Drucker, who said, “A good manager is a person who makes ordinary people do extraordinary things.” I do not believe in motivating the people in my team. I can just facilitate their motivation. I give my people all the freedom and allow them to use their creativity. My door is always open to them.

I like to think that I am still young at heart, although I am over fifty. I enjoy riding my new Royal Enfield Thunderbird on weekends. I still enjoy walking the streets, going for a suburban train run in Mumbai, and reading umpteen books. I love my early morning walks and being with my wife, Hilke, and six year old daughter, Annika. Over the years, I have realised that birth is an accident. By sheer luck of birth, I was born in a family that could give me a start and helped me reach where I am today. Again, everything goes back to my parents, my grandmother and those dear to me, and the love and warmth they give me. I could have been born on a footpath and achieved nothing in life. So, one just can’t forget the background in which one grew up.

When I leave this company, I want to be known as a person who gave his best and was humane and stayed humane, because I feel that success is not just about money. To me, success is about getting the best out of myself. I have not yet reached a stage where I can say, “I cannot do any more”.

Until then, I will work.