Charles Schulz, an American cartoonist, once pointed out that life was like a 10-speed bicycle. And that most of us don't learn to use all its gears. However, you can't say the same about Berjes Eric Shroff, Manager-IT, Tata Services. He was fortunate enough to pick up the “right gear” at the “right age”. A keen traveller, Shroff dreamt of a career in aeronautical engineering–without realising that his calling lay elsewhere.

“Some time in 1984-1985, during a Christmas vacation, NICE computers conducted a course in my school. I was in Class X then. Before the course, I had wished to study aeronautical engineering. However, the lessons changed all that. It was the beginning of my love affair with computers. Programming excited my mind,” he admits.

“When my father was transferred to the UK in 1986, I went on to study computers there. My journey since then, has been interesting to say the least,” he adds.

Having started his career with Procter and Gamble (India), where he worked for its IT department, Shroff soon changed direction and became a computer teacher. Soon, Lady Luck saw him travel to Canada to work there as a computer programmer–both at Toronto and Vancouver. But, his parents' illnesses brought him back to his homeland.

“I returned and started working as a freelancer. During one of my assignments with Tata Services, I was offered a permanent job–to set up an IT department for the firm's Bombay House headquarters,” he says.

Since he had the experience of setting up an IT department previously for Procter & Gamble-Godrej merger, Shroff knew that he was the right person for the job. He accepted the challenge.

Cut to 2010. Shroff now heads Tata Service's IT department. “The job is no doubt challenging. Especially considering the aspects of the constantly-emerging IT security,” he believes.

Hard work, for him, is the only way to accomplishing a dream. He believes that the daily grind gets a person “polished”, whereas “empty-bellied hype” leads nowhere, especially in the long run. “In these times, hype is important, especially if you wish to get noticed. But, I am terrible at it,” he admits, laughing.

It is this dash of humour and his critical eye that keeps him calm, even in the most adverse of circumstances–Shroff keeps himself motivated by exploring uncharted avenues.

And his family keeps him going. He deeply admires his late maternal grandfather. “He grew up in a poor family in a remote Indian village with seven brothers and sisters. His hard work and dedication led him to become India’s first actuary.”

But Shroff is not all work and no play. He loves to relax with a good book and admires works of authors such as Jack Canfield, Brian Tracy and Rashmi Bansal. “Reading books is like taking a vitamin pill. It instills energy and fuels my dream of becoming an entrepreneur one day,” he admits.

Unlike others, Shroff has no qualms admitting that he is ambitious–he does dream of holding the title of a CIO one day. “It's tempting. I would either like to be a CIO, or a VP, or a  Director–IT for a reputed organisation. Or, run my own IT security consultancy and training firm,” he asserts.

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jatinder.singh@9dot9.in