Farewell.

Farewell Mr. Kohli. The IT industry will forever be indebted to you as am I personally. Memories of interactions with you forever remain fondly etched in my mind.

Circa 1995, after having returned from the USA I set up QAI in India, I was trying, in vain, to get past the hierarchy at TCS, to you. You were the CEO of a Tata group company, and I a nobody young man, a Ph.D. dropout, an outsider, a start-up, the self-proclaimed CEO of QAI India. Understandably, I wasn’t able to get to you.

And so, we invited you to preside over QAI’s Quality certification felicitation function, which you graciously agreed to. That’s where we met. Post the keynote you asked that I come and meet you at the Air India building, at Nariman Point,  the next day. That was the start of a long relationship. And a blessing for me for, as also for QAI.

You, Sir, took a fondness for us (I think!) and were very appreciative of our mission to evangelize Quality in the Indian IT sector. Twenty-five years ago, India wasn’t the India we now know; the IT industry wasn’t what we see today. You saw its potential and you saw that that potential could be accomplished on the bedrock of Quality.

The next day you gave a commitment to get 3000 TCS staffers to sit for QAI’s Quality certification! In one meeting, in one hour, you just gave us an Rs. 4 crore order ( about a million dollars), 20 years ago!. You demanded that Quality not be only the quality functions job, but everyones. And you started a chain reaction amongst your peers and competitors to pursue Quality, much to our glee. (TCS eventually certified 5000 staff members as Certified Quality Analysts, Infosys 4400 staff members, and Accenture 3000.)

 You were, clearly, at TCS, the monarch of all that you surveyed! Respect for you and deference to both your views and wishes was palpable all around. The foundation you set and the leadership you provided has resulted in TCS having a market cap of about $ 150 billion, surpassing Accenture. What an incredible achievement.

 A few years later, you asked to be invited to QAI USA’s conference in Orlando, much to our surprise. There you offered that TCS acquires QAI. Humbled, excited, and nervous by your offer we deliberated and realized that there would be a conflict of interest with other organizations that we served. We had to respectfully decline. But thanks to your patronage and ongoing support and encouragement we remained even more energized for years to come.

I recall when we met in Malaysia and you offered to be on our Board. And I recall the deserved glowing tributes years later, that you received on your warm and amazing farewell at the storied The Taj Mahal hotel.

You are not only the Father of the industry but also a father-figure to me. Someone who continues to inspire with your wisdom and foresight. In my career, I met none that match your combination of vision, conviction, and affection.

The results are for all to see, and the Indian IT industry is what you always wanted it to be. And QAI too!

Farewell and thank you. Forever indebted and forever your student.