In 1977, he talked to Shiv Nadar and me and joined us in HCL, to set up our typewriter and dictation systems operations. He volunteered to move to Guwahati, Assam. (During the troubled times there he was independently in charge of that office and the entire North East). He successfully grew the business even when everyone was leaving that part of the country. Then, he moved to Calcutta to head the HCL operations in the entire East. Around 1983, he moved to the HCL head office in Delhi, responsible for our national sales (engineering and scientific segment).

Soon he left HCL to start Altos India. He had always wished to do something on his own. Initially, Altos was in the video game market but, owing to the excessive excise duties, the market size was limited. So, Altos quickly switched to typewriters and soon became one of the leading players in the market. Anticipating that the typewriter market would peak and then slow down some time in the near future, he started PCL (Pertech Computers) and moved aggressively into PCs. The story of PCL is well known. It became the price leader and, probably, one of the largest PC players in a few years. He also went on to start PCL Mindware and, in a short time, it too became an established software services export player.

After Dadan Bhai's ventures (PCL, Altos and Mindware) closed down and he had some respite from the numerous court cases he was fighting, he and my wife Kiran, decided to set up a play school for kids and use the profit to educate street chidren. The first school, called Pink Elephant, came up three years ago in Friends colony, New Delhi, and they were just planning to multiply this model when we lost Dadan Bhai.

He always aimed high and looked at the big picture. He had the intelligence and the guts to follow through on his ideas. For lots of people who worked with him, he was a respected leader-a good trainer with the knack of motivating his people.

I list a few of the messages I have received from them.

Bikram Dasgupta
Chairman & CEO, Globsyn Technologies
Dadan Bhai was not an ordinary person. He was a combination of what, I believe, most great people are made of: brilliant, competent and charismatic on one side, and on the other, he was fallible vulnerable and, a trifle, gullible. As for me, he was my leader, mentor, guide and stabilizer, at a very vulnerable part of my life. He always made me feel: "go for it, I am with you." I worked with him for 10 years in PCL, and two years in HCL, and whatever I am today, I owe everything to him.

After I left PCL, we were not much in touch. We both wanted it that way, and that is why today, only the good things remain as memory. He was 24/7 with you, in your mind, in front of you, talking to you, cooking for you, singing for you, and constantly egging you to get more out of you. He used to say very often, "Dasgupta Sahab, see my palm, there is nothing in it, it's clean and blank. I have no fate. So why worry."

This was the man-so rare, so clear, and a great heart, head and mind. I know you did not deserve what you went through in the end, but you have left many like me to admire, respect, and be gratified for all you have done.

Amit Dutta Gupta,
Founder of HOPE Technologies
Even at the crematorium, seeing Dadan Bhai so still, I felt that any moment he would grin and give me his signature: "Guptaji, as usual, you've got it wrong!" The trouble with Dadan Bhai was that he was much larger than life, too far ahead of his time, and he had a heart which was much larger than his head.

Standing there at the crematorium, I thought that in a different day and age, I would have given Dadan Bhai a different send off-that of a Viking warrior that he was. I would have put him in full armour on his warship, taken it out to sea, and set it on fire, on a happy journey to Valhalla. Knowing Dadan Bhai, he's landed there all right, with horns filled with heady wine for his friends.

Raj Singh
Entrepreneur and VC
Of the lives that were changed forever by straying into his orbit, I consider myself one such. He gave me my first job in the IT industry, even though I had only English as my major, under my scholastic belt back then. He took a chance on me-a raw kid who could have let him down so easily. But separated by time, distance and now even dimension, I can only picture him in my minds eye as one helluva jogadu manager, a motivator par excellence and a business man who not only could, but did, dare to march to a different drum.'

With the potential of a "David" in the business world of "IT Goliaths," Dadan Bhai's tryst with destiny was cruelly cut short by a chain of events that he, or those around him, eventually, could not control. The very system that allowed him to create a company which, at its height, was the toast of the IT world in India, conspired to bring him down. But wouldn't you say "hats off" to the man who tried to be that David and nearly succeeded?

Vinod Mathews
MD, Captronic Systems
I worked in PCL from 1991-1998, first in Bangalore and then in the Head Office (Sales Management Group). Dadan Bhai forced us (at least the entire SMG) to constantly think big. He often came to our room and repeated one of his favourite phrases: "Angrezi me bada bada socho." What I learnt from him, I now use in Captronics: "Think big, make quick decisions about it and get cracking." In our batch alone (people who joined PCL Bangalore between 1990-92), there are now half a dozen entrepreneurs. So, surely, he inspired the middle class employees to start thinking-this before dotcom-beyond their salaries, to running their own companies.

AR Vincent
Independent Consultant, Russia
They say "enthusiasm is one of the most powerful engines of success" and Dadan Bhai was an epitome of "enthusiasm". He not only created PCL and its group companies, with his colleagues, with enthusiasm but also instilled that "spirit of enthusiasm" in number of PCLites, who are now serving across the world in different capacities. He did things, with all his might, putting his whole soul into it, and finally stamped it with his personality. I am sure, PCLites across the world are active, energetic, enthusiastic, faithful in accomplishing their respective objectives keeping the spirit of Dadan Bhai alive.

Arun Sinha
Worked with Dadan Bhai in PCL
No tribute is big enough to mention Dadan Bhai's contribution to the lives of people he touched. He gave me opportunities, respect and freedom to excel. It was my foundation to a good management, though I had seven years' experience prior to joining PCL. I have loads of good memories of working with him. I feel good, that I could communicate my thoughts even when he was alive. Even though I had not met him during the last 18 months, he was and will always be alive for me. However, I also feel small that I could not contribute to his happiness during his difficult times.

Sudip Banerjee
President, Wipro
Iremember vividly our first meeting in Guwahati, Assam, helping him pack his bags for his transfer to Calcutta, his inspirational leadership in the regional office where he held us spellbound with his stories and anecdotes, his aggressive entrepreneurship in creating a new and vibrant company.

Karun Rishi
Influence Technology
A Great loss! My long stint with PCL, 16 years, was due to his inspiration. He was a Guru in the true sense-a person full of energy and ideas. He always treated others with dignity. In 2001, I was traveling to Delhi. He was going through a tough time and I wanted to take him out for dinner. Instead, Dadan Bhai called me home. And I was touched and impressed by the food he cooked, himself. Many of you may not know it but he had excellent culinary skills too. His life will always remain an inspiration to many of us.

AJ Faridi
Industrialist and Philanthropist
I first met Dadan Bhai when he was posted with the Bank of India. If ever there was a bachelors' pad it was his; Lucknow was a very staid and sober town then. I remember many a long-stretched evenings spent there. While the accommodation was meager, it had a large terrace with a lovely low parapet on which we would sit and imbibe the smells of the city. Though Dadan Bhai's Lucknow stint was comparatively short, our bonds built then sustained our infrequent meetings, once he shifted to Delhi. Through all his ups and downs, I never saw any flagging in his zest for life, or his warmth towards friends. That is how I will remember him.

Arjun Malhorta, Co-founder HCL, CEO & chairman, Headstrong

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