How they are working on community-minded projects like EkStep
Malini Goyal & Indulekha Aravind, ET Bureau Jul 12, 2015, 06.42AM IST
(Nandan and Rohini Nilekani )
Finding Nandan and Rohini Nilekani's home in Bengaluru's upscale residential neighbourhood of Koramangala is as easy or as difficult as nosing out any other address for the first time in a big city. The almost inconspicuous driveway leading up to the bungalow belies the structure built out on 30,000 square feet bang in the heart of the city. A rather cramped external facade has no tell-tale signs of the famous residents inside and, just when you contemplate turning back, a guard peeps out from behind an iron gate to confirm the address and asks for names before letting you in.
Inside the house at the entrance there is a seating area where we take off our shoes. In an expansive living area, a swing adds a dash of playfulness. A sunlit courtyard-like space overlooks lush green lawns. Adjacent to it is a well-laid seating area that's ideal as a hangout, and for a chat.
But that's not where the Nilekanis want to meet. Down the stairs is a quieter zone, although some renovation is underway. AC cartons are strewn around, in places the paint has been scrubbed off and walls have a fresh layer of POP. "Sorry for the mess. There's some repair work going on," says Nandan.
You're tempted to hang on to that word ("repair"), and draw a parallel with the career of one of the seven co-founders of one-time software services bellwether, Infosys. After all, at 60, Nandan too is dusting himself off and getting back up again.
After a little over a year of lying low, and smarting from a massive defeat in the Lok Sabha elections, he is back to the drawing board. "For the first time I am in Bangalore most of the time... spending time at home with family. Even at Infosys, I travelled a lot to meet customers," he says.
"Repair", however, may be a tad harsh a word to describe Nandan's current status. 'Re-inventing' is perhaps a more accurate description of the process for a man who till, only a year and a half ago, was at the forefront of the government's ambitious project to give every Indian a unique identify number, called Aadhaar.
"Rather than doing one thing like an Infosys or an Aadhaar, I am now doing a portfolio of things, 80-90 per cent of which are public spirited in nature," he says. Another shift from the past is that Nandan is now working more closely than ever with his wife Rohini (although not on all fronts).
Their biggest initiative is EkStep, an ambitious education app that aspires to fix the learning challenges India's 200 million children between the ages of five and 10 years face. "They are onto something big," avers Ashish Dhawan, founder, Central Square Foundation, a philanthropic outfit focused on improving education in India.