Tributes

He made India and all of us proud of our IT knowledge and capabilities to create a brand and a unique identity with which the world knows us today.

- Rajiv Sodhi

Father of IT a legend May hos soul RIP Om shanti

- Venkataraman Ravi

I interacted many times with him in TCS days. Every time i admired his sense of judgement, decision making and respect for human being. The most profound impact was when i was conceptualising posting system for TCS in 1979. I had just joined and he not only trusted me but also respected my assessment des pite he himself had done lot of readings and a very important tool for managing TCS. I was asked to present the system to the entre top management of TCS and address their concerns.

-Prem Prakash

India has lost a hero, an icon, a legend, a torch bearer and a nation builder - Mr. F.C.Kohli!

He was a true visionary, ruthlessly obsessed with innovation, automation, productivity, quality, learning, training, human resource development, shaping future leaders, willing to sail into unchartered waters & always oncerned about the future of India – a man light years ahead of the time! Always thinking global – acting local!

Mr. Kohli was also a tough task master, intimidating, disciplinarian, man of very few words & razor sharp memory!

But above all, he was an extremely soft, kind, gentle, considerate, thoughtful, generous and a humane person at heart!

A true visionary who single handedly created a brand new industry that lifted millions of Indians out of poverty. He not only put India on world map of technology, but gave respectability to brand India! He transformed India from being known as a country of snake charmers to IT Super Power!

Some create wealth for themselves, some for family, some for community, but he created wealth for the nation! He gave hopes & opportunities to millions of young Indians who can now aspire not only for a better life, but also contribute to the process of nation building!

Bharat has lost a true Ratana

-NK Jain

The outpouring of tributes from around the world of love, admiration and respect are a true measure of his greatness and impact that he had on the lives of so many people. I will always remember him as one who taught me to strive for excellence in all that I do.

-Harbinder Narang

Remembering Mr. Kohli, or DIC as we referred to him. It was my honor and privilege to have worked with a legend. I fondly remember the weekly MATC meeting on Wednesdays usually at 3 pm, when Narayan (his assistant) would usher us into the meeting, before which we had to prepare a 20-page organization wide report detailing highlights, allocations of the week, project released consultants list, new requirement, serviced requirements, and a full highlight of all the activities from all the regional MATC’s & Regional Managers. FCK was well ahead of his times and a visionary in creating a function like MATC and thereby keeping human capital at the forefront of an organizations’ decision-making process.

MATC was privy to all the reports sent in by Resident Managers, Group Managers, Project heads and the project end appraisal reports that were sent to Mr. Kohli. Invariably there would be some comments for MATC to respond to DIC. In this process I learnt the process in decision making, which was primarily based on adhering to deliverables committed to customers, technology learning that captured and ensuring that the team had all the access to tools, books, and ability to perform. Rarely (almost none) was it ever based on pricing, bill rate or profits. FCK constantly encouraged learning and developed a highly enriching and learning organization like TCS and made us proud to be a TATA, and prouder to work under the leadership of FCK.

I humbly share this photo of Mrs Kohli and FCK attending one of our TCS picnics (I believe it was in the year 1993), which I have treasured over the years and kept in our family album. (Added to the Gallery)

God bless his soul. Om Shanthi.

-Ramesh Nair

He passed away with out facing any trouble. For all the good work he has done, his God wanted him to reach like that.

The vacuum left behind cannot be filled in, since he was the father of the Indian Computer Industry created millions of job opportunities..

Adorable Leader sacrificed throughout, honest, sincere, accessible to every one, will appear highly handsome in his business Suit, handles all his Juniors & Seniors equally.

Truly touched to read the countless sincere messages from all across, shows how great a leader, a noble soul Mr. F C Kohli was with his inimitable appearance.

Feeling genuinely proud to have been ever associated and connected.

It is remarkable that he could be so popular and liked by every individual from many diverse groups.

The love of family and friends comfort the family during these difficult days.

I am confident that the prayers and kind wishes of well wishers would aid his soul to live in peace.

A remarkable person with high quality thinking, the extremely good life he lived, his each deed is like a seed as each will produce flowers.

I want to continue my value and loyalty towards DR FC Kohli with my gratitude and with the same feelings.

-R. Hariharan

Dr FC Kohli had the supernatural power of " Magic of Motivation "

He had brought the right people together ;created bonds and made them leaders

By opening their minds he made them create big institutions from nothing ..

Never would he say " You did not do this right " he would always say
" We should have done better" .

The Power of WE was this magic wand
I have experienced this energy from him myself

-Ramjei Narasimhan

I am very fortunate that I had the opportunity to work directly under such a great visionary. Even though I used to get scared whenever Peon informed that saab bulatha hai, I knew he was soft at heart . I am what I am today on account of his guidance and mentoring. Have learnt from him . He had taken a personal interest in my career advancement. I have lost a father figure and a mentor. May his soul rest in peace. My heartfelt condolences to the bereaved family. Om Shanthi.

-Poonthuruthi Sankaranarayanan

Indian history will salute you for paving the path to make India a world leader again

-Monotosh Bakshi

I had the good fortune of first meeting Dr Kohli, while at Nihilent, and came away hugely impressed after every interaction - truly a giant personality
The following passage from William Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar is a perfect tribute to him;
“ His life was gentle; and the elements
So mixed in him, that Nature might stand up
And say to all the world, THIS WAS A MAN!”

-Santosh Pande

Great human being exceptional leader and a true visionary!!

-Rakesh Naidu

Mr. FCK was a visionary much ahead of his time. He was legend whose ideas and vision, we are following even Today.

-Kalpesh Desai

A visionary and Institution builder par excellence. To continue to strive to excel in our chosen field and make a difference on ground is probably the most apt way to pay homage to FCK.

-Vinay Kulkarni

I met him only one or two times. But the bond is still very strong. I keep on wondering why ? May be I intrinsically knew that he had a good heart beneath a questioning gaze .

-Vimal Gupta

His sense of humour was very good. One day when he was walking on the 11th floor of Air India building, he heard an employee talking very loudly in a phone call. With a poker face he remarked "Why does he use a telephone?" One colleague remarked that he was on a trunk call with Delhi. Immediately Mr. Kohli said, "Tell him to go to the top of Air India building and talk!"

He was a torch bearer of the IT revolution.He set high standards for himself and for all those who worked under him. His spirit will keep guiding the future generations of professionals in pursuit of IT solutions to the problems of mankind.

-JS Rawat

You have been a father figure for most of us and you led us all from the front as a pioneer, a visionary, a hands-on leader and a mentor. You have laid the foundations for a robust global IT industry to thrive and grow exponentially. You have taught us decades ago, about the importance of building talent and competent resource base, about building strong customer relationships and value propositions that could last a generation, about uncompromising robust quality standards and processes, about dealing with Technology and innovation for building a better nation, a better world and a better future for everyone including the future generations. You could engage and focus on any subject even during a short ride in an elevator or just a fifteen minute meeting to provide valuable insights and directions for the way forward.

Your style of blending professional commitments with passion while caring for personal relationships with warmth is unparalleled. Your ability to evaluate a different view point inspite of differences are some of the qualities we could learn and imbibe and a lot more that we will continue to cherish and reflect upon.
The models set up for Innovative Solutions, Reviews and Brainstorming sessions, internal communications and channels for reporting and escalations to cut the response time and many such countless best practices worked so flawlessly.

The experience and expertise we gained under your leadership to develop and nurture a "Can Do" attitude has helped us become what we are today. You led us to believe in ourselves and encouraged us to reach out and achieve much beyond what we would set for ourselves.
We will miss you, but you will continue to inspire us in our thoughts and actions.

-Padmaja Krishnan

I started my career with TCS in '81. TCS was small at that time. Two floors in Air India building, one in Maker Towers and Lotus House. Jeevan had not gone to look after SEEPZ and Pawan to Delhi.

In a small family like that, it was quite possible to meet DIC either in his office or while you are working late at night (on 10th floor typically) on a inter-branch reconciliation and he on his nightly walk. he would ask you your name, project and give a pat on the back for working so hard. Next day, he would tell the project manager for the project to estimate efforts correctly as nobody should have to work so late on any project!

He was quite a stern professional. People say he had rough edges. Probably only due to those rough edges, he was able to polish and create so many diamonds in the form of CEOs of Indian IT industry companies including the mother ship TCS.

What I learnt in TCS in the first six years, has lasted me for my entire career.

My tribute to this legend.

-Pradeep Hardikar

A Great Teacher and one who has made India a Global Brand in IT

-Subrahmanyam KV

A visionary with an amazing memory. Have very fond memories of my interactions with Mr Kohli while I worked at TCS. May his soul rest in peace.
- Gerard Dmello.