Rahul Bedi
New Delhi
A "finishing school" in southern India founded by an Internet manager who lost an important Western client after one of his engineers burped at the negotiating table, is imparting social skills to software professionals to enable them to cope with overseas customers.
"Indian information technology professionals are amongst the world's best, but they lack the social finish to fit into the global mould that helps clinch contracts with Western companies," said Mr Sudhir Udayakanth, founder of Edge Advanced Learning Private Limited, in Bangalore, one of the world's five top IT centres.
"They have to be taught what to wear, how to hold their drinks at social gatherings, to hold a conversation and table manners," said the 29-year-old psychology graduate. In specially tailored programmes at prices ranging between €6 and €10 per hour the finishing school provides deportment and Western orientation courses.
"A lot of the time foreign clients are socially flummoxed by Indian code writers and unable to establish a body language that is essential in all such dealings," school trainee Mr Rajesh Nayak, who is anxious to learn negotiating skills said.
For instance when Indians nod their heads Westerners do not know whether it is a yes or a no, leading to confused signals, added Mr Nayak, who runs a company developing software solutions for the educational and healthcare industries.
India has the largest pool of English-speaking computer professionals after the US and annually produces around 55,000 skilled computer programmers, many of whom are in great demand abroad. Over 60,000 Indian software engineers working in the US have helped attract global IT giants like Texas Instruments, Motorla, Novell and Oracle to India.
These computer companies have established their research and development centres in Bangalore and the nearby cities of Hyderabad and Madras, where thousands of skilled computer engineers and programme writers are cheaply available.
Of the 4,600 information technology enterprises operating in Bangalore, some 1,500 have an overseas link.
"Most of the time when I am with a foreign client I am tense, fearing that my colleague will commit a social blunder.
"He may dress badly, bum a cigarette, pick his teeth or burp aloud. I have lost quite a few clients because of this," said Mr Udayakanth.