Sujata Agrawal

Maitree is a 60,000-strong friendship and support network that plays the role of companion, counsellor and guide to the far-flung family of Tata Consultancy Services employees and their kin.

More than 36,000 employees, including some 1,500 foreign nationals, working in offices spread across 32 countries on five continents. As with all things concerning Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), Asia's largest software company and the jewel in India's infotech crown, the numbers are massive. Binding this huge and far-flung family of people together is an adhesive called Maitree.

Maitree, which means friendship in a host of Indian languages, is the companion, counsellor and guide that TCSers (as members of the family are known) have come to rely on. The Maitree journey began in February 2002 when Mala Ramadorai, an educationist with long years of experience, decided to start an organisation to connect and support the spouses of TCSers, many of whom had to move outside India and adjust to a different culture at short notice.

"I met so many women who needed to just communicate with each other and share their experiences and problems," says Ms Ramadorai. "I believe that, besides giving employment, a company should also provide cultural moorings and help with assimilation. Care and support are very Indian values; they are rooted in our heritage."

Maitree started as a forum where the wives of TCSers in foreign postings could get together for social gatherings and share their concerns, such as finding good schools for their children, the best place to shop for Indian groceries, and understanding the local language. It has now blossomed into a 60,000-strong network that plays an integral part of the lives of TCSers and their spouses.

For those outside India, Maitree still acts as a support system and a forum for social gatherings. Within India, it is more institutionalised and mainstream. The human resources and administrative departments of TCS have also been drawn into the movement.

The organisation's activities fulfil needs at different levels and cut across various age groups, involving employees, their spouses, children and even parents. TCSers, who work long hours and whose hobbies have to take a backseat owing to work demands, love these extra-curricular initiatives. Yoga classes, theatre workshops, flower-arrangement sessions, ballroom dancing classes, computer workshops — Maitree offers something for everyone.

Maniprasad Sadarla from TCS, Mumbai, enjoyed attending the theatre workshop. "The games jogged our thinking process and brought out our creativity," he says. "It was a good opportunity to express our talents without getting stage fright." The summer activity programme for children is a boon for harassed parents. Group events such as festive celebrations or Kaleidoscope, a fair for kids held each November, bring the TCS family closer together. These initiatives also give employees an opportunity to interact with their colleagues at a social level.

Maitree also holds workshops that add value to an employee's professional life, like courses in advanced business English, etiquette and effective communication. There is also a large pool of in-house talent. Many spouses of TCSers are highly educated and talented in different areas. For instance, Madhavi Kazi, wife of Hasit Kazi, a delivery centre head at Mumbai, holds demonstrations on bonsai cultivation. Experts from outside are also invited to give talks on health issues, investments and such.

On 'secretary's day', which is celebrated in April every year, Maitree chapters across India hold programmes felicitating TCS secretaries. It is just one of the many ways of making employees feel special. Yvette Zaccheus, one of the secretaries, wrote in to say: "Secretary's day was an excellent interactive programme and truly made us feel good. Maitree has initiated an attitude of sharing and caring together."

Maitree's counselling service has won the organisation plenty of praise. It has fulltime counsellors in different cities in India. Initially these experts had little to do, but now they have their hands full throughout the day. Interestingly, employees rarely discuss personal problems; they mostly talk about work-related issues. One reason for the popularity of the counselling services is Maitree's informal nature; employees feel more comfortable talking to counsellors rather than formally approaching their department heads. In turn, Maitree counsellors share some of these concerns with the TCS administration, so that issues can be resolved quickly.

Along the way, the organisation realised that many of its members were also inclined towards community development activities, but did not know where to start. Maitree identified areas for them to invest their time and skills for the greater good.

Maitree has adopted a tribal school in Panvel, on the outskirts of Mumbai, where TCS wives teach English regularly. Recently 57 children (six of them disabled) from the School for Remedial Education in Mumbai were taken for a trek near the Karnala Bird Sanctuary. It was an eye opener for TCSers, as they saw the courage and enthusiasm of these differently abled children. Maitree hopes to make these treks a regular activity.

Maitree has given TCSers and their spouses opportunities to do things which they otherwise could not have accomplished. It has helped TCS to have happier employees, who can now make presentations about their work to spouses. "It helps them understand the work their husbands or wives are doing," says Ms Ramadorai. I want them to take pride in TCS and talk confidently about the work we do."

"Today 90 per cent of our offices have a Maitree organisation," says Ms Ramadorai. As TCS opens new offices or acquires new companies, Maitree is there to welcome new employees to the TCS family. Employees of CMC are also part of the Maitree family and those of Phoenix Global (TCS's recent acquisition) too will soon be taken into the fold. Helping all these people connect and pull together in a common cause is the Maitree website (www.maitree.com).

It is said that the family that plays together stays together. Maitree is striving to ensure that the unusually large TCS family stays in touch through sharing of experiences, dissemination of information and, most importantly, a spreading of friendship.

Uploaded in March 2005