Adventure for soul and hard work for success

He was a homegrown product who never stepped out of house except for going to
school. He was tied to his mother's 'pallu', as they say, throughout the
day. His parents also showered love on him and this love and affection for each
other in the family gave them all the happiness in life despite monetary
constraints. "I still remember how we lived on a shoe-string budget. We
were five in the family (me and my brother and sister along with parents) and
had to slog out for every little thing we aspired for. Still, we led a happy and
contended life," said R Muthiah Pillai, Director of Bits Computer Systems.

Born in 1971 in Nagercoil, Muthiah Pillai was brought up in Tirunelveli.
"My father worked as a clerk in government engineering college and his job
was a transferable one. First, we lived in Nagercoil, where I did my primary
schooling, before moving to Salem, where I joined Saradha Matriculation School
and finally settled in Tirunelveli," he said.

"I continued my education in St. Xavier's Higher Secondary School
here. I was always a very studious guy and remained a class topper
throughout," boasted Pillai.

However, Pillai could not secure a seat in his favorite engineering
College-Anna University, Chennai. "Inspite of my scoring very good marks in
the main exams and the entrance test, I was not able to get a seat in any of the
premier institutions as the cut-off marks were very high and I belonged to
forward class (FC). I got dejected and worried as I could get the admission only
in National Engineering College at Kovilpatti. However, it became a turning
point in my life when I joined computer science here and the subsequent IT boom
in the country took my life to new heights," explained Pillai.

College life at Kovilpatti opened new avenues for him and as he was away from
home. Pillai started feeling like a bird-out-of-the-cage and enjoyed life.
"I picked up a few vices also but my academic performance remained
good," he narrated. Meanwhile, like every other youngster, Pillai fell in
love with Melba Mary during his college days.

Soon after passing out of college in 1992, Pillai was hunting for a job for a
while in Chennai and Bangalore, before moving to Delhi. He joined as a customer
support executive in Samtech Engineering where he worked for two years and in
1994, he was called back to Tirunelveli as his father died due to kidney
failure. "It was a tragic time and I had to take care of my family being
the eldest child. I decided to continue with my career in IT and was looking for
a suitable opening. Zenith at that time, was looking for a resident engineer in
Tirunelveli and it was a golden chance for me. I joined the company but left
just after one year to promote our own company -Bits Computer Systems, with my
friends John and Gilbert and two years later, I took over the complete
operations," added Pillai. He married his ladylove Melba Mary during this
time. Today Pillai, blessed with two lovely children, Surya and Sathya, has a
small but a happy family. "I have a great time with them and I love to
spend my holidays at home. Once in a year, we go for a vacation to places like
Ooty, Kodaikanal and Munnar," added he with a smile. Pillai is very
determined to teach swimming to his children as once he had a narrow escape as
he got into a pond without knowing how to swim. "I had almost drowned but
luckily a person came to my rescue. Later, I learnt to swim only short distance
but I want my sons to be perfect swimmers," he said.

S Gopikrishna