Prakash Menon could not find his way out of an airport when he first hit China. Today, Menon not only knows his way around, he is a guiding light, mentor and torch bearer for thousands.

When Prakash Menon arrived in Shanghai 11 years ago, the only thing he knew in Chinese was the name of his hotel.

"It took me two hours to get out of the airport. I asked hundreds of taxis but no one could understand me," jokes the president of the Chinese arm of one of the world's biggest IT trainers.

Now people beat a path to his door to seek advice on doing business in China and he passes on what he has learned as a lecturer at the China Europe International Business School.

Menon is now fluent in Chinese and the National Institute of Information Technology China, which he heads, has become the largest private educator of IT students in China.

During his time at the helm, NIIT has grown from its first intake of 1,000 students a decade ago to currently educating 50,000 students a year in 182 offices in 66 cities across China.

Getting to his hotel has also become a lot more routine for Menon, who has traveled across China, visiting more than 90 cities spreading the company's distinct brand of education.

His business career in China started after a 14-day fact-finding mission which left him convinced of the strong growth potential.

A descendent of Indian royalty in the southern Indian state of Kerala, Menon previously worked for NIIT in Bangalore, India's equivalent of Silicon Valley in the United States.

But Menon is not your typical IT specialist. As a young man, he won India's top three car rallies in 1987. The races involved rugged off-road driving through mountains in jeeps.

At the same time he also showed a talent for more cerebral pursuits, twice winning a national amateur photography competition.

Menon is one of local Indian community's most experienced China hands.

During his time here he has helped co-found the Indian Association Shanghai, a non-profit cultural and social organization for the Indian community that performs a range of charity activities.

But in his business activities he is often sought out for his unique perspective on China.

A pioneer in terms of Indian business presence in China, Menon says he has learned there is no secret formula for success here, just hard work and a flexible mindset.

He says Indian business managers and entrepreneurs, considered some of the best in Asia, are particularly well suited to achieving success in China's often challenging business environment.

"In the West, many people see things in black and white. In China it is all gray," he says. "Indian managers are used to operating in black, white and gray. It helps them a great deal here."

While Menon has his eyes on the bigger picture of capitalizing on the opportunities presented by China's development in the services sector, he says the human side of education still provide him with some of his most rewarding moments.

"An area that has been very endearing to me is when a parent calls you out of the blue because they always thought their son or daughter wasn't much good," he says.

"Their children have gone through one of our programs and gained a job of a certain stature at a multinational or local company and the parents tell us wonderful things.

"Some of them are in tears and I keep telling them it is nothing to do with us it is, we are only catalysts, the hard work was done by their children."

(Shanghai Daily October 24, 2008)