Ashwani Maheshwari is a big believer in work-life balance. He says he has always been lucky that his bosses let him be. ?Once I am told what?s to be done, I then do it my way. Luckily not too many people have called me up on a Sunday.?

Ashwani, who is now the CEO of ITC Infotech (Indian Business), has always wrapped up his tasks just the way he wanted to, and his peers say that it has often proved the right way. Born near Haridwar, Ashwani had always exhibited a penchant to rip open electronic goods, but he was never rebuked for it.

?As a child, my passion was to rip up stuff and then assemble them again. I remember cutting open my grandfather?s antique clock, but then could not assemble it back somehow. Even today, my mom shows me those parts of the clock, which I couldn?t put back.? That probably was an exception. Since then, there are not many things that he couldn?t succeed in. A Mechanical Engineering graduate of 1989 from IIT Roorkee, he was pretty popular in college. Not for ripping up engines, but for dramatics. That was the time when social issues started to bother him. He was especially hurt by the widening gap between the haves and have-nots in society. ?Most of my plays in college were centred around some kind of social injustice or the other. I managed to win quite a few awards in the process.?

But he didn?t allow dramatics to interfere in his studies. ?The good part is I was always among the top rated students in class.? His family supported him in whatever he did. ?I had the freedom to do what I wanted, and that was a big boon.?

After passing out from Roorkee, Ashwani joined Tata Steel. He considers his stint at Tata Steel, a great learning experience. ?Imagine Russi Modi joining you at the lunch table and cracking jokes with you. I still have goosebumps thinking about it.?

It is at Tata Steel that he learned the importance of dirtying one?s hand. It dawned on him pretty early that there was no point just to have discussions. It was all about execution, and one had to get down to the nuts and bolts of an issue pretty quickly. ?I was part of the specially chosen central cell which looked after total quality management (TQM) at Tata Steel. It was great going and I was able to achieve a lot of satisfaction.?

But then all good things have to come to an end, so did Ashwani?s stint with the Tatas. ?I was getting too comfortable. I needed a new challenge. That?s when I started looking out and ITC looked like a good option. I joined them in 1997 and that was a big change, but then a very exciting brownfield project in Saharanpur kept me occupied. It was a very challenging project, but its completion gave me great satisfaction.?

Years at ITC started to roll by, and he was firmly established as one of the leaders to watch out for within the organisation. That?s when he wanted to be ?unstable? again. ?This time I decided that I wanted to go do a course. So I joined the London School of Business.?

Getting back to studies was a refreshing experience for him. ?Here at the business school, I was thrown together with peers who are very successful in their careers. It was fun to see how they responded to a certain challenge and came up with solutions. It gave me new energy.?

When Ashwani got back to ITC, he was in search of a new challenge. The management gave him an opportunity to head the IT division of the company. ?I knew joining ITC Infotech would be a great challenge, but I was convinced it would take me in the right direction. For the first three months, I devoted myself totally to devising the strategy. I wanted our goals to be pragmatic, and we are well on our way,? says the man, who is a long drive freak.

?Give me a short break and I am off. It?s important to take short vacations that can energise you,? he says. ?After all, life needs to have a balance.?