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Home> Executive Track> Portraits
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| You (Indians) are all crazy! |
| Working in India has been a unique experience. It triggered me to write two books. And the reason is you are all crazy! |
| Priya Padmanabhan |
| Tuesday, December 13, 2005 |
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| Life's inspiration |
I enjoy action. I like to do things with passion and I don't do anything I don't enjoy |
| Ambition |
To further make a difference to people who I will leave behind in the villages |
| What I would like to change about myself |
Have more patience |
| Hobbies |
Cycling, writing and sports like tennis, badminton and golf |
| Best moment |
Moments of beauty like the Goan sunset with a fishing boat coming in; when I sip a cold beer after cycling in Devarayanadurga |
| A Must Have |
Laptop and digital camera |
| Worst Fears |
No real fear |
| Passionate about |
Opportunities in Bangalore. We don't realize it and don't pay sufficient attention to infrastructure |
| Fav gizmo |
Digital camera, O2 though he finds cell phones intrusive (hates SMS abbreviations) |
| Fav destination |
Kaveri fishing camp in Bhimeshwari, Goa, Ooty-Coonoor golf course and the Himalayas |
| Fav Book |
Louis L'Amour's Westerns. They are like Bollywood movies, which are predictable and also in a scenic setting with hills, horses and waterholes |
| What ticks you off |
When people are not interested and when they refuse to do what they are supposed to do |
| A lesson for life |
There is diversity and people do different things. Don't judge things and assume things are static |
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Dr Bob Hoekstra is passionate about India. It is also why he is one of the most vociferous spokesmen in the industry speaking against inefficiency and official apathy towards Bangalore's deficient infrastructure.
Ever since he first landed in Bangalore in 1999 to take over the lead of Philips Innovation Campus as its CEO, Hoekstra has let himself soak in the essence of India.
Unlike other ex-pats or even most local CEOs who shun the real Bangalore or India and confines themselves to the corporate world and business targets, Hoekstra went beyond and travelled that extra mile to understand and experience India in all its glory and flaws.
Be it interacting with a family living on a Bangalore street or attending a Page 3 launch, weekend cycling to Nandi Hills or initiating company programs to address rural markets, this indefatigable Dutch national thrives in action.
“Working in India has been a unique experience. It triggered me to write two books. And the reason is you are all crazy!” he exclaims.
Hoekstra is so obsessed with this Indian craziness that he gave Indian names to his grandchildren. While most top honchos of Indian companies look westward for their vacations, this man from the land of tulips and windmills loves to bask in the golden hue of the parting sun on a Goan beach and watch a fishing boat return with its catch.
Writing is his way of dealing with India's contradictions -- poverty on one hand and on the other, the success of the IT industry that he is a part of.
“When you write down things, it becomes more acceptable. I don't judge why people do things in a certain way. I write it in a neutral way without getting upset,” he says.
His first book called “An Exemplary Family in Bangalore,” reflects vignettes of life in Bangalore, while his latest book is on his travels across India.
It has been a long and eventful journey for Hoekstra who built up the R&D team in India from 330 engineers in 1999 to 1650 today. “I know from experience that one cannot grow R&D centers by more than 10 per cent every year. Philips has been growing at a composite annual growth rate of 35 per cent per year. I'm still astonished that we have been able to do it,” he says.
Today, Philips Software campus in Bangalore provides software for a third of Philips' overall products. This center saves the company a whopping Euro 70 million annually. But for Hoekstra, it has not been that easy to build the team, given the average Indian engineer's inclination towards services companies.
“The comfort zone of every Indian is to be told what to do. There is not a natural tendency to think outside the box and take initiative. It takes time.”
To him, R&D is akin to guerilla warfare. “Unlike a risk-averse services company, R&D is like a guerilla war. One has to be innovative. You have a rough idea where your enemy is and you have to continuously adjust yourself to the circumstances you are in,” he explains.
His eyes light up when he talks about something close to his heart - Philips' plans for the Indian rural market. Thanks to Hoekstra's keen interest and initiative, Philips is now working to provide products and solutions in three areas: healthcare, education and entertainment.
“One would think that villagers would want to use GPS to track buffaloes.
In rural areas they just use a rope,” Hoekstra says.
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For this physicist who grew up in The Hague in Holland, working with Philips was a logical and hereditary choice. “Both my mom and dad's parents worked with Philips and also because this was the best Physics laboratory in Holland.”
He earned a doctorate in Physics while at Philips. Hoekstra worked in the US and Taiwan before he was posted in India.
India and Philips will sorely miss Hoekstra whose six-year Bangalore stint and 37-year-old career at the company are coming to a close in February next year. He opted for early retirement since “My wife and I want to watch our grandchildren grow up.”
So fond is Hoekstra of Indian customs that he held an elaborate Indian naming ceremony for his grandkids, Merel and Tobias, whose Indian names are Kavitha and
Bhaskaran.
Hoekstra is set to leave for Holland in February, but hopes to continue his bond with India by helping Dutch companies leverage India to their advantage and also advise NGOs like the Erin Foundation and Hope Foundation. |
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