Sanjay Kalra: 'Tech'tonic shift

His sell-off of Tech Mahindra stock — 4.8 lakh shares for '44 crore in six transactions since March — should have been a dead giveaway. Yet, despite rumours within the company, many were baffled by the resignation late last week of Sanjay Kalra as chief executive of Tech Mahindra. “I want to take a break for the next two to three months — pursue hobbies like learning the piano or a foreign language; catch up with friends,” said the 47-year-old in a call to senior management.

Kalra spent over six years in the company. “I am disappointed and heartbroken that Sanjay has chosen to leave. I have worked with him for over 15 years,” said Vineet Nayyar, vice-chairman and managing director. Nayyar will take over operational responsibilities as CEO after September 15.

Both Nayyar and Kalra have known each other from their HCL Technologies days. Nayyar joined HCL in 1994 as vice-chairman and was founder and CEO of HCL Perot Systems. Kalra joined HCL in 1997 as executive president and was responsible for setting up Cisco's first outsourced R&D centre outside North America.

The trio of Nayyar, Kalra and C P Gurnani (who now heads Mahindra Satyam and will take over as CEO of the merged Mahindra Satyam-Tech Mahindra), were all former HCL employees roped in by Tech Mahindra before the company went public in 2006. They formed the key management executive team.

An IIT-Delhi alumnus with stints at DSL Software, Schlumberger and Tata Unisys, Kalra’s departure now leaves that trio truncated. But given his wealth of experience, it is unlikely he will spend much time practising his Arpeggios on the Steinway.