One man army. Review on Nasscom

My personal experiences with NASSCOM during the y2k days are the following:

• Being a y2k solution provider but NOT a NASSCOM member, I was chasing them to put up my company name on the solution provider list on their public y2k web site (meant to educate the public about y2k). They finally told me after six months that I could only be included if I paid up Nasscom dues. Naturally I refused to pay - why was I not told this upfront?

• All my attempts to meet Mr. M failed. He refused to give personal time ''too busy'' and did not respond to emails

• Mr. M was holding forth on y2k at several government seminars. But yet One one occassion, I was told that he would meet with me but ''not talk technical issues'' since he did not know much about y2k.

• I have personally hear him making populist anti-government statements (''The Government should stay out of the Internet'') and then immediately having to backtrack since he was in the presence of the powers-that-be with whom he has to maintain good relations in view of his current position.

• I have also seen him offering (no, make that insisting) to fetch a cup of tea at a seminar for a senior government bureaucrat, despite the latter's insistence that he could get his own tea

• TO be fair to NASSCOM, they do many right things and Mr. M is seen in the right places at the right time with the right people in the right press protographs - and even if Mr. M's photo was on the home page of the Nasscom web site, still he gets the industry the public recognition it deserves