The Tie Brigade
Businessmen, Corporates & Legal Eagles

Ratan Tata (Class of 1949)
Chairman TATA Sons

Ratan spent his early years (till the age of 12 or so) in Campion. In the early 1950s Campion was not a High School and so in order to graduate students had to join other schools to appear for their board exams. So in 1949 Ratan left Campion and completed his schooling elsewhere.

Ratan Tata is presently the Chairman of Tata Sons, the holding company of the Tata Group - India`s largest conglomerate and its oldest business house. He is also the Chairman of the major Tata companies such as Tata Steel, Tata Motors, Tata Power, Tata Consultancy Services, Tata Tea, Tata Chemicals, Indian Hotels and Tata Teleservices. He has taken Tata Group to new heights and under his leadership Group's revenues have grown manifold.

After completing his schooling, Ratan studied architecture and structural engineering at Cornell University. He has also has completed the Advanced Management Program at Harvard Business School, USA

He the joined the Tata Group in December 1962, and was sent to Jamshedpur to work at Tata Steel where he worked with the blue-collar employees shoveling stone and working with the furnaces.

In 1971, Ratan was appointed the Director-in-Charge of The National Radio & Electronics Company Limited (Nelco), a company that was in dire financial difficulty. He suggested that the company invest in developing high-technology products, rather than in consumer electronics. From 1972 to 1975, Nelco eventually grew to have a market share of 20%, and recovered its losses.

In 1991, Ratan took over the Chairmanship from JRD Tata. Under his leadership the Tata Group has gone from strength to strength Tata Consultancy Services went public and Tata Motors was listed in the New York Stock Exchange. In 1998, Tata Motors came up with Tata Indica, the first truly Indian car and also the Nano the car for the common man. In 2008 Tata Motors bought the two iconic British brands Jaguar & Land Rover from Ford Motor Company.

Ratan Tata has his own capital in Tata Sons., the holding company of the group. Though his share is just about 1%, his personal holding is valued at US$ 1 Billion. If all the value of this is added his Net Worth is estimated at around US$ 50 Billion, making Ratan N. Tata one of the richest people in the world. However Ratan a shy man rarely features in society glossies and has lived for years in a bok-crammed, flat in Bombay with his collection of dogs

 Ratan was honored with Padma Bhushan, one of the highest civilian awards in 2000. He was also conferred an honorary doctorate in business administration by Ohio State University, an honorary doctorate in technology by the Asian Institute of Technology, Bangkok, and an honorary doctorate in science by the University of Warwick   

Farookh Kavarana (Class of 1958)
Director TATA Son & Chairman Tata AIG, Tata Asset Management

Farrokh Kavarana, a director of Tata Sons and Tata Industries, is the chairman of Tata AIG Life Insurance and Tata AIG General Insurance, Tata Asset Management (The Tata Mutual Fund), Tata Projects, and Trent. He is also a director of several other Tata Group companies such as Tata Tea and Titan Industries, as well as Tata and non-Tata companies overseas.

After school, Farookh did his BCom degree from the University of Bombay and completed his Chartered Accountancy in England and Wales. He then went on to get an MBA from the Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania.

Then in 1970 Farookh began his career with McKinsey & Co Inc in London and Washington DC, and advised leading international financial institutions in the UK, Europe, Middle East and N America including the World Bank. In 1974-75, he was a director of the European subsidiaries of The Bowater Corporation.

Then in 1975 he joined the Tata Group as director of Tata Industries and managing director of Tata International AG / Tata AG in Switzerland, and soon thereafter of Tata Limited, London, with the responsibility for overseeing the Group's investments and activities overseas. In 1994 he
was appointed executive director of Tata Motors, and in 2000 he became executive chairman of Tata Infotech until its merger with TCS in 2005.

He is a trustee of the Childline India Foundation, the National Centre for the Performing Arts (NCPA), the Nani A Palkhivala Memorial Trust and the Lady Tata Memorial Trust. He is a recipient of the Dadabhai Naoroji Millennium Award 2005.
 

Romesh Wadhwani (Class of 1962)
Founder and Chairman of Symphony Technology Group

Romesh Wadhwani is the founder and chairman of Symphony Technology Group, a private equity firm investing in software and software services companies. As of April 27, 2010, the Symphony Technology Group’s portfolio companies include:
Capco; SymphonyIRI Group (formerly Information Resources, Inc.), Inc.; MSC.Software; Symphony Services; Teleca; Netik; Lawson Software; and Aldata. Combined, these companies have over $2 billion in revenue and 15,000 employees worldwide. STG sold Symphony Marketing Solutions (SMS) to Genpact (NYSE: G) on Feb. 3, 2010. Wadhwani has a Bachelor's degree in Electrical Engineering from the Indian Institute of Technology, Bombay and an M.S. and Ph.D.
in Electrical Engineering from Carnegie-Mellon University, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

In 1991, Wadhwani founded B2B software firm Aspect Development, maker of software that helps clients track internal spending, inventory and buying habits. Wadhwani also served as chairman and chief executive officer of this business-to-business e-commerce company. Wadhwani sold Aspect to Sanjiv Sidhu's i2 Technologies for $9.3 billion, the largest merger in software history. From June 2000,
when the merger occurred, until September 2002, Wadhwani served as vice chairman and a director of i2.

In addition, Wadhwani was chairman and CEO of Cimflex Teknowledge Corporation, a company specializing in products and systems for computer-integrated manufacturing. From 1973 to 1981, he was the Chief Executive Officer of Compuguard Corporation.

Sanjeev Talwar (Class of 1963)
Regional Director Air India

Sanjeev joined Air India in 1971. In the last 35 years he has held several key positions in the airlines - Regional Director, India. Manager of Abu Dhabi, Singapore and Goa, Commercial Manager, Tamil Nadu and at the Air India headquarters, he headed the Revenue Management Division and also held important positions in the Cargo Unit.
On his last assignment Sanjeev was the Regional Director of Air India - Gulf, Middle East and Africa and was based in Dubai.

Sanjeev adds - I was in Loyola House and was extremely loyal to it!! I thought it was the best but I am sure the others in the other houses thought so too about theirs.

Niranjan Hiranandani (Class of 1966)
Managing Director of the Hiranandani Group

Niranjan is the Managing Director of the Hiranandani Group and the Managing Trustee of the Hiranandani Foundation Trust, which runs modern schools in Powai and Thane.
He has been Chairman of Housing & Public Works Committee of FICCI and is the former director of HUDCO, which is the largest Central Government, owned Housing Finance Organization in the country. Besides heading a host of bodies, he is also the President of Maharashtra Chambers of Housing Industry (MCHI) and Vice-Chairman Priyadarshini Academy. Mr. Hiranandani a Member of the Task Force of the Government of India for reforms in housing and urban development. He has also been a member of the Study Group on Slum Rehabilitation Scheme, as well as a member of the Working Group of the Urban Housing for the 9th Five-Year Plan.
Under his leadership the Hiranandani group has also diversified into retail, entertainment, hospitality, infotech, education and horticulture. Recently the group announced its entry into the healthcare segment with the Dr L H Hiranandani Hospital, at Powai in Mumbai, which will be a multispecialty hospital, the only one of its kind in the city and is expected to be commissioned in December 2003.
  

Bhaskar Pramanik (Class of 1966)
Senior Corporate Director (Sun Microsystems Worldwide) & Managing Director Sun Microsystems India

Bhaskar is Senior Corporate Director, Sun Microsystems and the Managing Director of Sun Microsystems India Pvt Ltd, a 100% subsidiary of Sun Microsystems Inc., USA. He is responsible for the overall operations of the subsidiary in India.
Bhaskar has more than 30 years experience in the Indian IT industry. He joined Sun in November 1997 and has been instrumental in building Sun's presence in India and growing the company at a pace faster than the industry average. Bhaskar has received many outstanding achievement awards in Sun over the last 8 years.
In October 2004, Bhaskar received the Sun Leadership award. The Leadership Award recognizes outstanding Leaders at Sun who lead the company forward in a manner consistent with Sun values and demonstrate consistent business results while modelling the values. Bhaskar Co Chairs the Leadership Awards Review Board in Sun for 2005 and 2006. He also Chairs various committees at the Asia South level.
Prior to joining Sun, Bhaskar has held several senior management positions in companies like Digital Equipment India Ltd., Blue Star Ltd., and NELCO. His last held position at Digital was Director, Enterprise Sales, Digital Equipment Asia Pacific Pte. Ltd., Singapore. In his earlier role as Vice-President, Sales & Marketing, Digital Equipment India Ltd., India, Bhaskar was part of the original Country Management Team responsible for setting up the joint venture in India.
Bhaskar is an engineering graduate from the Indian Institute of Technology, Kanpur. He has also attended the Advanced Marketing Management Program at the Stanford University. He has been actively involved with the Indian IT industry since 1982 and is a regular speaker on computer & telecom related subjects at public fora and industry meetings. He is a member of various committees in CII, MAIT, NASSCOM and was the Chairman of the American Chamber of Commerce, Karnataka, in 2003-2004. He is currently a member of The Executive Council of NASSCOM.
Bhaskar is married with two children. His hobbies include playing golf, listening to music and dabbling in  photography.
 

Juzar Khorakiwalla (Class of 1967)
Chairman & Managing Director Biostadt India Ltd

Juzar is the Chairman & Managing Director of BIOSTADT India Ltd
After securing a First Class in his ISC,  Juzar did his B.Pharm and then went on to the prestigious Asian Institute of Management (AIM), Manila for his Post Graduate Masters in Business Management.
He has also had the distinction of completing a 3-Module course at the Wharton School of Business called “International Forum” in Philadelphia, Bruges (Belgium) and Kobe (Japan)
Over the years he has held several prestigious positions the most notable being :
President of the Asian Institute of Management Alumni Association (India), from 1990-1997
President of Rotary Club of Bombay Central : 2002-2003
Vice Chairman of the International Trade Committee of the Indian Merchants’ Chamber
Vice President of the Indo-Canadian Business Council
Chairman: of Life Science & Biotechnology Committee for 2001/2 of Indian Merchants' Chamber Managing Committee
Executive Director in Wockhardt Limited until 2003 Juzar has also been a member of the following Associations:
Executive Committee Member of the Indian Drugs Manufacturers Association (IDMA)
Bombay Management Association (BMA)
Indian Institute of Materials Management (IIMM)
Member of Governing Body of Allana College of Pharmacy
In 1991-1992 he the recipient of the prestigious “TRIPLE-A” Award for Management from the Asian Institute of Management, Manila, Philippines. This Award was presented at a special ceremony held in Jakarta, Indonesia
Juzar spends his spare time playing tennis and golf or reading. He is also enjoys travelling and has travelled all over Europe, USA, Far and Middle East, Latin America and other parts of the world 

Keki Mistry (Class of 1970)
Vice Chairman & CEO HDFC

Keki obtained a Bachelors Degree in Commerce from the Bombay University. A qualified Chartered Accountant and a Fellow Member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India, Keki is also a member of the Michigan Association of Certified Public Accountants, USA. He  started his career with The Indian Hotels Company Limited, one of the largest chain of hotels in India. Then in 1981, he  joined the Housing Development Finance Corporation (HDFC). He was inducted on to the Board of Directors of HDFC as an Executive Director in the year 1993 and was elevated to the post of Managing Director with effect from November 2000.
Keki is also a Director on the Board of several Indian Companies.

Colin Gonsalves (Class of 1968)
Senior Advocate Supreme Court Of India & Executive Director of Human Rights Law Network (HRLN)

Colin Gonsalves is a Senior Advocate of the Supreme Court of India. He is also the Executive Director of Human Rights Law Network (HRLN).

A pioneer in the field of public interest litigation in India, he has successfully brought a number of cases dealing with economic, social and cultural rights. Most of these cases decided by the Supreme Court have been set as precedents. Colin is also the founder of the India Center for Human Rights and Law, an independent, one-stop information center for anyone involved in public interest law.

Colin Gonsalves, is a B.Tech (1975) from the Department of Civil Engineering, IIT Bombay. He began working as a civil engineer, but was drawn to the law through union work and concerns over labour issues and exploitation. Thus, he started studying law at night school in 1979.

In 2004 he was the recipient of International Human Rights Award of the American Bar Association in public recognition of his contribution to the area of human rights

Brian Peck(Class Of 1971)

Brian became the biggest Worldwide Partner of Kronos Automated Labour Solutions in a mere 10 years. Not only was he awarded the International Dealer of the year on numerous occasions he also had the unique distinction that every shopping mall in Australia and New Zealand that had more then 10 clients in each mall were using the product that was sold and supported by his company.
Brian migrated to Australia in 1973. Whilst working in various jobs he realised that there was a huge business potential in Australia's strict labour laws and after borrowing $20,000 from his credit card set himself up as a local reseller for Kronos automated labor solutions a Boston based NASDAQ company. The rest is history. He then sold off his holdings in Kronos, hung up his business suit and decided to spend time with the family - he built a beach front property, spent time fishing and as a hobby collected wines. However, he soon got restless again and went searching for something new.
He decided to develop a product that would detect the source of problems on the internet. Thus End-End Software was born. The product was developed in India as he wanted to give something back to his native country India. The product is now being used worldwide and has some blue chip clients like Fosters Beer  in Australia, Globe Telecom in Philippines( that handles 77 million SMS messages a month), ICICI Bank in India, Citizens Advisory Bureau in the UK Advanced Information Services in Thailand to name a few
In 2001 Brian and his wife Lee adopted a 6 year old girl from Pune and Priya Lee has given them much pleasure and joy and great feeling of giving a less fortunate fellow human being a second chance in life. Brian and Lee also have a son Justin Brian who is a Business Development Manager with L’Oreal in Australia
 

Vijay Parekh (Class of 1974)
Managing Principal - Global Catalyst Partners

Vijay is a Managing Principal in Global Catalyst Partners an international Venture Capital firm and is also the Chairman of Ultradots, and is on the Board of Newport Media, SliceX and Teranetics. Prior to this he was Vice-President and General Manager within the Public Carrier IP Group (PCIPG) at Cisco. During his tenure he was responsible for developing and introducing the 10G solution on the 12416 GSR platform, which resulted in the sales growth from $400 million in FY 1998 to several billion dollars FY in 2001.
Mr. Parikh was President and CEO of StratumOne Communications, a leading developer of framers and layer 2/3 engines for 10G solutions in high-end routing/switching applications. StratumOne was funded by Sequoia Capital, Brentwood Capital, Institutional Venture Partners, and Redwood Ventures. Cisco Systems acquired StratumOne on September 20, 1999 representing its most expensive private acquisition at that time.
Prior to StratumOne, Vijay was VP/GM of the Wireless Communications Division (WCD) at Conexant where he grew it from a non-revenue position to a $180 million business at the time of his departure. WCD had programs in all of the key wireless technologies including GSM, CDMA, TDMA, Spread Spectrum, PHS, DECT and PDC. Prior to that he had several VP/GM positions at Conexant including those for the Personal Computing Division (PCD) which involved programs in software modems, PC audio and xDSL and the Global Positioning System (GPS) division which had programs focused on the integration of multi-channel GPS with wireless data systems including those for ARDIS, CDPD and Mobitex. He also held several management positions at Conexant in its Japanese Operations facility.
Vijay has a BSEE from the Birla Institute of Technology and Sciences in India and an MBA from the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor. 

Mahesh Madhavan (Class of 1977)
CEO Bacardi Martini India

Profile Awaited 

Pramit Jhaveri (Class of 1978)
Vice Chairman Citibank

Pramit is the MD and Head of India Investment Banking of the Citigroup which he set-up in 2000 and has since led to its current market leadership position in international capital markets and mergers & acquisitions businesses.
After Campion, Pramit got his Bachelor of Commerce from Sydenham College, Mumbai and then a MBA in Finance from the University of Rochester, USA.
He joined Citibank in 1987 and was soon appointed Head of Corporate Finance and Capital Markets for Citigroup in the Indian sub-continent and a member of Citigroup's Global Corporate and Investment Banking Management Committee in India.
Pramit is married and has two children 

Neville Taraporewalla (Class Of 1980)

Neville is Country Head ,Yahoo! India the largest Internet Media and Communications Company in the world
He has been credited with the turning around of the Yahoo! India operations in India and in October 2003 was nominated for a internal Yahoo!
Global Super Star award for his efforts for the India Operations .He also holds the position of Vice Chairman of the recently formed Internet Online Association of India and part of the Executive CouncilPrior to joining Yahoo! India , Neville was Chief Operating Officer – Mid Day , the largest circulated English tabloid in the city of Mumbai published by MID-DAY Multimedia Ltd .A listed company his portfolio included managing the various print brands Mid Day, Sunday Mid Day besides handling New Media Products such as mid-day.com , Mid Day Mobile and the call center Hello Mid Day.
An early starter on the Internet ,in 1996 spearheaded the The Times of India Group foray onto the Internet .Neville Taraporewalla with over 15+ years of experience in the media & mobile communications business , has had the dual experience of working in International markets in the Middle East and Scandinavia
   

Kumaramangalam Birla (Class of 1984)
Chairman Birla Group

Kumar is the Chairman of the Aditya Birla Group, one of India's largest business houses. Among its major companies in India are Grasim, Hindalco, UltraTech Cement, Aditya Birla Nuvo and Idea Cellular. Its JVs include Birla Sun Life (Financial Services).

While he is the Chairman of all of the Group's blue-chip companies in India, he serves as a Director on the Board of the Group's International Companies spanning Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia, Philippines and Egypt. The Group's operations extend to Canada, China, USA, U.K, Germany, Hungary and Australia as well.

Additionally, he is on the Board of the G.D.Birla Medical Research & Education Foundation, and a Member of the Board of Governors of the Birla Institute of Technology & Science (BITS), Pilani. He is a Member of the London Business School's Asia Pacific Advisory Board, which provides counsel on the School's strategy and curriculum. He is an "Honorary Fellow" of the London Business School (LBS), a title conferred upon him by the Governing Board of the LBS.

Kumar has and continues to hold several key and responsible positions on various regulatory and professional Boards, such as:• Director of the Central Board of Directors of the Reserve Bank of India from 27 June 2006
• Chairman of the Staff Sub-Committee of the Central Board of the Reserve Bank of India
• Chairman of the Advisory Committee constituted by the Ministry of Company Affairs for 2006 and 2007
• Member of the Prime Minister of India's Advisory Council on Trade and Industry
• Chairman of the Board of Trade reconstituted by the Union Minister of Commerce and Industry
• Member of the Government of Uttar Pradesh's High Powered Investment Task Force
• Member of the National Council of the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII)
• Member of the Apex Advisory Council of the Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry of India
• On the Advisory Council for the Centre for Corporate Governance
• Member of the Organising Committee for Commonwealth Games, Delhi 2010