A partnership at work

Nemichandra tells the story of an engineer couple in Karnataka, who worked together in life and career

The year was 1960. A determined K R Shantha set out for the Indian Institute of Science (IISc), Bengaluru, to become an engineer as her desperate father tried to dissuade her one last time — “Take up BSc Honours, leave this engineering. Can you climb the electric poles?” he said. It was widely believed in those days that to become an electrical engineer, one must climb electric poles!

Born in 1942, Shantha joined IISc in August 1960 in the Electrical Communication Engineering department. In the final year of her BE, she was selected by Bharat Electronics Ltd (BEL). In 1963, she joined the Research and Development (R&D) division; amongst 60 men, she was the only lady engineer! 

In 1965, Vijayaraghavan, her classmate from her IISc days, came back from America with an MS degree from Purdue University. When he joined BEL, their acquaintance soon blossomed. They were married in 1966. Her father-in-law expected her to resign from her job, but Shantha continued working. In 1967, their first son Bharat was born. The factory job was tough, as she was to leave home at 5.30 am to catch the bus. But she enlisted her supportive mother-in-law’s assistance. 

Shantha and Vijayaraghavan with their children.

In 1968, there were major changes at BEL. Shantha reminisces that “when a new official occupied a senior position in the R&D division, he did not want lady engineers in his team.” Frustrated, she shifted to the Technical Training Centre. Here, she got her dream project — to develop a television receiver from scratch. Shantha designed the TV receiver using the latest semiconductor technology. 

In 1970, Vijayaraghavan joined Blue Star in Mumbai. The same year, Shantha arrived in Mumbai with little Bharat. In 1972, Vijayaraghavan was responsible for the sale of India’s very first ‘time-sharing computer’ to IIM-Ahmedabad. Meanwhile, Shantha took up projects as a consultant for Dr Wadia Associates.

New initiatives

Ever since Vijayaraghavan had returned to India, he had held the dream of starting a company of his own. As he was still under bond period with Blue Star, Shantha went on to realise this dream. The company ‘Micronic Devices’ was started in 1974, with Shantha and two partners as founders. The business operations were executed from home, and the dining table was converted into a meeting table and workbench. 

Soon, the company was distributing the latest life-saving electronic equipment like an implantable pacemaker, foetal monitoring systems and others. In 1975, Vijayaraghavan joined the company too. The company was eventually able to take up the distribution of single-board computers, and shift office to Sion Industrial Estate.

As the company grew, a servicing division was opened. In 1976, the couple travelled to the US for a training course at Computer Automation Inc. In the 1970s, it was rare for women to get an opportunity to train abroad in pioneering technology.

In 1982, the couple shifted to Bengaluru to expand the company and start manufacturing and R&D units. In 1990, the Micronic Devices factory came up in Electronic City.  

In 1992, the company went public, and Advanced Micronic Devices was established. Vijayaraghavan was the MD and Shantha was a director on the board. Shantha and Vijayaraghavan are one of the first engineer couples of Karnataka, who then established an electronic company. Today, the octogenarians are happily retired.