Erudite Entrepreneur

ICE PEOPLE/ROHIT ARORA

is a keen sudoku solver who reads four newspapers a day and 40 magazines a month. He also loves to solve crosswords between business meetings. Ask him about television and his reply is simple: "It's difficult to catch up with TV news. And with instant online news reports, one really does not lose out much."

Arora's climb to the top might strike a familiar chord with many CEOs in the IT/ITES industry. From humble beginnings in 1987 when his office did not even have a telephone or a computer, he has done quite well for himself, thank you.

Back then, eMR Technologies was one of only a few third-party service providers in India and it handled one simple process for a leading multinational bank. "I was a qualified CA but never really practised it. I began as a consultant but within three years I started out on my own," says Arora.

Today, eMR Technologies employs 700 people in India and a smaller team of 15 in the US and boasts a slew of Fortune 500 clients in the financial services and healthcare domains.

Arora refuses to compare the company with any of his Indian peers, "We are doing fairly high-end work. Our work is not all about calling up for mortgage loans or credit card collections. I can think of no apple-to-apple comparison to us."

Talking about the future, Arora says the company was not averse to entering voice processes "to compliment the core processes," but get him talking about his past and he smiles wistfully. "It is easier to take bolder decisions when you are young," reminisces the eMR Technologies chairman.

Clearly, success is a seven-letter word that rests lightly on Arora's shoulders.