Mumbai: What goes into the making of a software guru? Swank boarding schools? A foreign B-school? Well, think again!

Ashank Desai, one of India's emerging IT tycoons, has risen from being a student in a humble tribal school to running a Rs 600-crore empire, called Mastek Software, in Mumbai.

Desai's is an unusual rags-to-riches story that defies all stereotypes. He lived a tough childhood. Fatherless at the age of two, Ashank and his mother fled Goa to escape Portuguese persecution to land up at a place where his education began at a tribal school, and then in a Marathi institution.

But his lack of English medium education worked against him in college.

"On the first day of college, my professor was asking each student which school they went too. When I said Kasturba, he looked surprised. He wanted to known which school was this. I was ashamed of myself since this was asked in a class of 70 to 80 students," recalls Ashank Desai, chairman of Mastek.

But made of sterner stuff, Ashank soon finished college, then engineering and then topped courses from IIT Bombay and IIM, Ahmedabad.

He then joined and served at Godrej for three years. That's when the business bug bit him. Ashank had just Rs 15,000 and three friends when he set up Mastek in 1982.

"People felt that we looked good, looked smart and have had good education. They thought we would do well. That branding did help. Money was not important. But if I had to start everything once again, I would put more money. Then I would have grown faster," Desai narrates.

A three-member group in 1982, Mastek now employs over 3000. And its 19 offices rake in almost Rs 600 crore a year. Now a software guru, Desai today runs one of the 200 best small companies in the world.

He has some advice for those following in his footsteps. "Entrepreneurship is a journey," he says. "You make a difference to many, be it customers, employees, suppliers or be it shareholders. Please remember: Your journey will be successful only if it is a win-win for both of you."

The latest feather in Desai's cap is a huge project to decongest the swirling traffic on theLondon roads. And this project promises to make all the difference to an average day's traffic in London.

The project restricts movement of vehicles in the city centre by charging a hefty toll. The result: Traffic is now reduced by 10-15%, queues reduced by up to 20-30% and traffic speeds increased by over 10-15%. All these thanks to a software that comes from Desai's firm.

"The London congestion charging project is one of our biggest projects. It feels good to have made a difference to the lives of so many people," Desai says matter-of-factly.

But for 54-year-old Desai, the success of the London project comes after two decades of entrepreneurship and his horizon is only expanding.

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