The golden sun streams through the window, bouncing off his silver-grey leonine mane.It’s a beautiful Chicago morning in the US, but at the elegant home of Sam Pitroda — telecom czar, development thinker and tech prophet, the day began long ago.
As we settle down for a cup of desi chai made by his wife Anu, I observe several paintings of variety and character in the house.
Sam’s sharp eyes crinkle as he is asked the name of the artist of a painting with haunting shades of cyan and ochre. “Well, Satyanarayan Gangaram Pitroda — Me” he laughs. “I also sketch and doodle”. Point to others that impress, and it’s the same answer.
It’s hard to imagine that the Father of the Telecom Revolution and digital switching had never used a telephone in India during the first 20-plus years of his life. He made his first ever phone call from the US.
Today, the vision of the man who made the now ubiquitous yellow STD/PCO the virtual lifeline of a country when he set India on the path to universal telephone accessibility and forecast the country’s teledensity surge decades ago, is as sharp and lucid as when he began his mission.
One that he says has no boundaries. The founder-chairman of C-SAM, Inc is also the National Knowledge Commission (NKC) chairman and was recently appointed advisor to prime minister Manmohan Singh on information infrastructure and innovations, with cabinet minister rank.
Pitroda, who says the country’s next big challenge is inclusive growth, holds close to 100 worldwide patents and has published and lectured around the world.
I’ve seen poverty; you just can’t erase that part of you
But I have also seen what can happen with a good education … you can wipe caste out, you can wipe poverty out. No one will believe that the son of a humble carpenter from the suthar caste could ever go this far. I was born in Orissa’s Titilagarh village, it bordered on being tribal. If I can do it because of education and technology everyone can. I got a chance, a look out when I studied in Gujarat and got to come to the US. Then it became my mission to give others a chance. Never forget who you are.
Don’t complain, learn to solve problems — on a train ride to Gwalior, the train was so dirty I just got down on my hands and knees and cleaned the compartment. I came to the US in the ’60s. By 1984 I returned to India at the invitation of Indira Gandhi and began C-DOT. I had to give up on my life in the US. But by the ’90s things went bad. I had a heart attack, I had no money. I realised I had to go back and I told the then PM Narasimha Rao I had to leave.
When I returned to Chicago I did so on a tourist visa. I couldn’t work, couldn’t get a licence. A friend told me to apply for a green card and get my life in order. I hit rock bottom but I bounced back with support from my wife and kids.
Rajiv was the only person who asked me if I needed money when the chips were down
I miss Rajiv Gandhi… he and I had a special equation. If Rajiv were alive, I would have given up everything for him. I think he realised, “this guy has no axe to grind.” It was a common ideology, a shared vision and a common goal. We would call each other every week. His trust in me was implicit and vice versa and we bounced off ideas at different levels. He told it like it is. Rajiv Gandhi the PM saw India emerging as a model for human development — he was way ahead of his time. Without his political will I would not have been able to do much. I’ve not found anyone like Rajiv.
Let’s talk telecom; it’s a language I love
Telecom has brought a lot to the people of India. It has connected India to India. Openness, accessibility, network, democratisation, decentralisation… this is what I want to do for the next ten years. In 1974, I wrote an article which said telecom is the key to emerging markets and development. No one paid attention to it.
When I got a chance to return to India after I came here, I thought to myself I don’t want to do things right, I want to do right things. After C-DOT, I became the founder and first chairman of India’s Telecom Commission during my tenure as advisor to Rajiv Gandhi in the 1980s.
I feel happy when people say I am responsible for shaping India’s foreign and domestic telecommunications policies. I see a bigger future for India and its people as far as telecom goes. From mobile based transaction technology to bettering the infrastructure for India’s 500 million phones as that figure is expected to go up to 800 million soon… there is lots to be done.
Comments