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Shining on
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Tushara Canekeratne is WCIC `Woman Entrepreneur of the Year 2005'
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Photo K.Gajendran
RIGHT MIX Tushara Canekeratne believes in quality
She started her career in Manhattan, working with Wall Street companies and went on to win Association of Imaging and Information Management and Imaging Magazine's Product of the Year award. The microfiche replacement product developed by her found wide usage. And now, about ten years later, as a co founder of Virtusa Corporation, Tushara Canekeratne has been awarded the Woman Entrepreneur of the Year 2005 by the Women's Chamber of Commerce (WCIC) in her native country, Sri Lanka.
"The award is a reflection of the team," says US based Canekeratne during her recent visit to the Hyderabad centre. "We started operations here in 1999. The obvious choice was Bangalore but we wanted to look at other places where there was opportunity thus Hyderabad as the next high tech city scored."
"One of the early things I saw in my early days is the immense talent we have in Asia, of very capable people. They play on the world scale working side by side with some of the top talent," she says. And there is similarity in the cultures as well, she observes. That includes cuisine.
"Sinhalese cuisine is like the Kerala food. Both have curries and are spicy," observes Canekeratne. But when in Hyderabad, biryani is the staple. "You don't get it in Sri Lanka. I plan to take back the recipe," she says. Yet another Hyderabadi favourite is pearls that she prefers to wear.
Ask her what it is to be a woman on top? "My experience has been very positive. It doesn't matter what gender you are. I guess it's about attitude. It's all about the way you conduct yourself. As a leader I have certain standards I have set."
The standards apply for her personal sphere as well. A doting mother of two and wife of the co-founder of Virtusa Kris Canekeratne (chairman and CEO of Virtusa) Tushara likes golf that she plays with the family apart from reading biographies and business philosophies. "The story of life is like a game of golf. The best player can have a bad game day. When you go out there you never know what to expect."
"Kris and I are fortunate to have a wonderful infrastructure at home that allows us to maximise quality time with the kids. When in town, we try hard to get back in time to have dinner with the boys, spend adequate time with them and get back online once they have gone to sleep," she says. Apart from working with foundations such as the Cancer Foundation in the Boston area Canekeratne plans to stay involved with academic institutions.
SYEDA FARIDA
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