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Saying tata to tedium
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Maitree is a forum for TCS employees' families to come together to explore their potential. Mala Ramadorai is its driving force.
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Mala Ramadorai with TCS spouses: setting an example to show that corporates have a heart
WHEN ONE is wedded to someone who is wedded to his company, one might as well form a suitable alliance with the company. This was what Mala, wife of S. Ramadorai, CEO of Tata Consultancy Services, discovered in the course of her long innings as a TCS spouse. She also discovered she could inspire several TCS spouses, mostly women but with a good sprinkling of men too, to allot quality time for various productive activities, all aimed "to weld TSCsers and their families".
The Mumbai-based Ms. Ramadorai was in town last week, in connection with the activities of Maitree, the informal, fluid establishment started by her a little over a year ago, after she quit her teaching job. Jokingly referring to TCS as her souten, says Maitree was started to foster a sense of pride, belonging, and passion, and to send out the message that corporates too have responsibilities, given the hours techies put into their work. Membership to Maitree is not mandatory, even though the boss's wife is involved, but the numbers are huge, given that TCS has a staff of 23,000, and if one counts their families, they are significant. "I'm a travelling salesman," Ms. Ramadorai laughs, adding that her role is only as a motivator.
So is it like the company owning you and your life? Not at all. "Maitree aims to promote common interest areas like music, trekking, theatre workshops, yoga, information on relocation, and so on." She herself teaches English to Corporation School teachers in Mumbai, apart from helping drivers and peons in TCS to be computer literate. "I also teach origami to unsuspecting victims!"
Maitree works at spreading TCS's work ethics and values and passion for the systems to older children of the employees too, as they are bombarded with all sorts of messages and role models in a rapidly changing society. It holds workshops on subjects as disparate as breast cancer, candle making, effective communication, and etiquette. Such interaction helps Maitree members hone their skills of empathy. Like intervening if there is domestic violence and helping troubled people. "In fact, there is a counsellor for employees' families in Mumbai," Ms. Ramadorai reveals.
Many TCS spouses are qualified in diverse fields. Quite a few have had to give up their jobs to relocate wherever their husbands or wives have been posted. "Maitree helps them discover themselves. One woman attended a workshop on tie-and-dye and became so good at it she has even exported her work." Another group, after a workshop, was inspired to buy guitars and now performs for charitable causes. Most of those who conduct workshops are either TCS employees or their spouses though experts from outside are also invited.
Ms. Ramadorai points out that Maitree runs on a shoestring budget and does not pay its volunteers. Of course, if there is a workshop that requires considerable investment in raw materials, then the costs are reimbursed. Or if the motivator stays far away, s/he is picked up; that's about it. "It is attitudes that are communicated. That's what Tatas are all about."
Ms. Ramadorai disapproves of those who say, "I'm just a housewife". A more appropriate term would be "house engineer" because often she is the plumber, carpenter, electrician, and so on. One can never underestimate what a woman invests in running her home and her family, she adds.
Significantly, 30 per cent of TCS spouses in Bangalore are men, while in other centres, it is around 15 to 18. There are open house days, usually Friday afternoons, when the employees' families can walk into TCS and check out the environment where their fathers/mothers/children/siblings work.
So is TCS looking for that superachiever equipped with superintelligence and supersensitivity? Apparently not. "We're looking for a perfect company." It is not just IIT and IIM products who people TCS. There are employees from all streams, given the variety of demands made on the company. "Each one brings a different viewpoint. Life is very dynamic and changes constantly."
She acknowledges the sea-change in today's work culture in every field, not just in IT. "We are overtaken by wave after wave of demands. Communication has taken over our lives. We are plugged into the cellphone, laptop, even in-flight. We have all become voices on the phone." And Maitree is one way of reintroducing that human touch into interpersonal relations.
Those who want to contribute to the forum in any way may contact maitree@Mumbai.tcs.co.in.
SUGANDHI RAVINDRANATHAN
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