Mohandas Pai, former CFO of Infosys and currently Chairman of Aarin Capital Partners, has always been in the limelight. Right from his college days, when he was a rebel participating in strikes, to the time he created a sensation out of a dull annual report by including Madhuri Dixit in it.

His interests straddle an array of fields — from starting a tax-efficient stock option plan that helped create many millionaires, to working for the cause of feeding millions of children everyday. And he brings the same energy and pragmatism to the diverse problems he takes up.

Simple start

“I come from a very simple family”, says Pai who describes himself as a self-motivated, introverted, bibliophile.

He recalls how his father, who started his career bussing tables, rose through the ranks over the years. His mother, a school teacher, insisted on good education and inculcated the habit of reading.

“She would take me and my sister to the library regularly. The habit of reading on a variety of topics stayed with me”, says Pai. In fact, his office is filled with stacks of books and visitors are always gifted a book.

Pai was a bright student and completed his schooling with flying colours. He was a rank holder in BCom and chartered accountancy and also got a law degree. He was a practising chartered accountant for a few years before he went on to head a leasing company.

Infosys years

Even as he put his heart into the day job, Pai actively pursued his long-time passion — reading annual reports.

“Right from my school days, I used to collect annual reports and have accumulated about 3,000. I would also attend shareholders' meetings and question the management based on the report”, he says.

So when Infosys went public in 1993, Pai was at the shareholders meeting and quizzed the executive team.

He then became a good friend of Nandan Nilekeni, which eventually led to Pai taking up a consultant role in the tech company in January 1994. “Engineers were held in high regard at Infosys. The same cannot be said for other job functions. I wanted to do something to possibly change that”, says Pai with a smirk.

He put together the 1994 Employee Stock Option Plan scheme, which stood up against court scrutiny for taxability.

The Supreme Court concluded that the employees need not pay any tax. This decision is said to have paved the way for relief from capital gains tax on shares held for over one year.

In October 1995, on N R Narayana Murthy’s persuasion, he joined the company as finance head. Infosys was a $5 million company then.

His other pet project was creating the company’s annual report in 1995. The report had a lot of disclosures, including human resources accounting, EVA statement, financial accounts in the GAAP of eight countries and brand accounting.

Not to mention the fact that it featured Madhuri Dixit. In all, it created a sensation as far as annual reports go. “It was so sought after that, I am told, it was sold in the black markets”, says Pai with a chuckle.

Higher goals

Pai had a great run at Infosys, holding various leadership positions and winning many accolades. He says “I asked myself what next?” The answer was, taking up a larger cause.

And he found that in Akshaya Patra; the non-profit provides mid-day meals to 1.4 million children in 11 States currently.

Pai has co-founded and has been actively involved in this organisation since its inception in 2000. He is also a firm believer in policy research to bring out effective changes.

He is the co-founder of B-PAC, a not-for-profit trust comprising passionate people who are striving towards a better Bengaluru.

He is also a mentor at Gateway House, India's first privately founded foreign policy think-tank. He is also associated with Centre for Smart Cities, Bengaluru and is the Chairman of Manipal Global Education Services.

Contra thinking

He believes strongly that the rich must not hoard their wealth or display it and has donated a significant portion of his earnings.

“There must be substantial inheritance tax and wealth tax. Tax relief can be sought on donations given through the years so that the rich are discouraged to hoard while encouraged to give away their wealth”, he suggests.

Pai, who is married to a lawyer, says he does not invest in real estate or gold.

“Earlier my investments were largely in Infosys”, he says. Now, he has placed his bets on 100 start-ups through the 10 venture capital funds he has invested in.

The couple, who have two sons, have made it a point to show them the world and expand their perspective.

But when it comes to collecting anything beyond memories — gadgets, art, antiques — Pai throws up his hands.

“I enjoy art, culture and technology, that is it. But the only things I collect are books.” He hopes to have enough time one day to read all of them.