He has been with C-DAC since its inception in 1988. For K Gokuldas, Center Co-ordinator, C-DAC Bangalore, being a founder member, means much more than being one of the first staff members to be appointed after the Executive Director. It means, being witness to the birth pangs and teething trouble that C-DAC experienced even as it rose to live upto the expectations of the country and an onlooking curious world. It meant spending more sleepless nights, than one could have imagined and coming out of it unscathed, victorious and proud. It meant standing tall and declaring ‘ I belong here’.

‘The privilege and opportunity to work on a project of national importance’ is what enthused Gokuldas to pitch in his might in developing India’s first supercomputer. ‘All the pain and pangs normally associated with the setting up of a new organisation as well as working against all odds, to achieve the mission, within the compressed time frame were there and more. It also exposed me to the environment of working with highly talented and reputed IT scientists and also to their idiosyncrasies. These problems were overcome, by and large with tact, understanding, presence of mind, learning from mistakes and with a lot of luck and the counsel of my Executive Director’.

In the course of his career with C-DAC, Gokuldas has handled a number of responsibilities. ‘I have handled a variety of activities from the trivial to the impossible. It has its own rewards in being exposed to situations of high drama, excitement, and depression and savoring the taste of successes’.

Having seen and lived it all, the good and the not- so-good at C-DAC, Gokuldas strongly believes that the strength of a unique organisation such as C-DAC lies in its inate seamless hierarchy, intellectual freedom, sensitivity to its members and efforts to address genuine problems’. As for him, the motivation to be a part of C-DAC has not eroded over the years. According to him, ‘ the euphoria of being a part of this young organisation , which has achieved so much in so little a time and the promise it holds of greater achievements in the world of IT in the years ahead is motivation enough to continue to work in C-DAC.’

And, like any other loyal family member, Gokuldas too dreams of a dream for C-DAC. ‘ To see the organisation grow to be a pioneer in the frontier areas of IT in the world’ because, ‘It still is a young organisation, not corroded with the passage of its existence as well as capable of finding its place in the Sun’.