Play god, `father' a mascot

bangalore: play god -- create a character, the catchline urges. for the 500 employees of deutsche software and family members, it is an invitation to succumb to one's creative instincts. participation couldn't develop any deeper roots at workplace, given that it is an exercise at coming up with a mascot. entries on email or even those dropped off at designated boxes will be opened on wednesday.``from these entries, we shall select a winner which will then be our logo for all internal communications. for us, it will be a messenger, a symbol which will break news to all in the work place. it will laugh, cry and participate with all of us,'' says deutsche software chief executive officer ashutosh gupta. ``for us at deutsche software, it will be the creation of a cheerleader, a role that a human being may not always be able to play to perfection. that is because we are very often restricted by the roles assigned to us and limited by our perceptions,'' adds gupta. the mascot will be a messenger for the 350 employees working out of the bangalore office in the leela galleria on airport road and another 150 who work on projects abroad. ``information on the company, birthdays, in-house events, sports and the like will all bear the new mascot,'' says communications manager raghavendra rao. the contest puts forth no restrictions. no limits on the number of entries or on the media one selects. it could be a drawing, a sketch, even a peppy toon. ``we've allowed free use of paints, colour pencils, crayons or even software for the creative ones to come up with something interesting,'' says gupta. as for the families, this isn't the only time deutsche software gets the spouses involved. ``even when the company is finalising its business plans, we get the family involved. we take our team and their spouses out to a resort for a few days. after we've initially discussed the business plans, we share details with the spouses. we also ask them for feedback,'' gupta explains. he adds, ``that way we get the families to understand how much of an effort our employees have to put in through the year and get them to share and participate.'' even as the software wizards put their heads to creating something rather different from the routine, deutsche software awaits eagerly awaits the birth of its new mascot. playing god couldn't be easier. or could it?