Best man Naresh at Google ?

In my previous blog I mentioned that I had written to Google querying what drove them to recruit Naresh, a double amputee. The reason for raising this query was to try and understand what drove them to it. Were they just being good samaritans or doing it for the publicity it would generate for them. They have not yet responded. Since my last blog on this, I have sent emails on their website, to Google co-founder Larry Page and today to their Vice President People Operations Laszlo Bock. In some corner of my mind ia desire that they would respond saying they recruited Naresh because he was truly the best guy for the job at hand.

Google website says they seek motivated self starters who demonstrate initiative & ownership. They must be dedicated to customers while continuously striving for superior quality and must be in a continuous learning mode since the environment is fast changing. They must be flexible to work in different & diverse projects. Google offers encouragement, freedom to innovate and a chance to work in a flat hierarchy. Candidates must be highly performance driven and display innovation in their way of thinking. Eagerness to solve problems and working as a team with respect for peers is a vital trait they scout for. They are expected to be Talented, Energetic and Detail-oriented. Besides these, the individual must possess role specific technical skills.

I am sure that Naresh is talented and competent and also has the right attitude. However one musn't forget that he is, after all a fresher. So Google must say that he was truly the best guy available for the position and that they were not driven by the desire to be good samaritans and this was not for free publicity. Their silence would indicate that a position has been denied to another more deserving candidate. Being physically challenged should not become a candidate's passport to a job involving state-of-the-art technologies. However, having special needs can not be a reason to reject a deserving guy.

Recruiting someone who is physically challenged must require monetary outlays to modify the office. We need to know that Google is where it is because they always choose the best man to create a superior performance environment, to deliver superior products for the end users. The Governments must realise that legislation can not create equal opportunity. It can only aspire for limited opportunity. We need to open our minds.

Google has done well and Naresh would show them what he is made up of. Having stirred the nation's collective conscience, I have no doubt he would remain in public memory for a long time. This is not the last we have heard of him.

Why did Google recruit Naresh

There is some amount of skepticism in all of us. To some of us even basic human goodness appears like scheming. A few would think Naresh was very lucky to encounter such profound compassion that a total stranger on a train volunteers to pay his hostel expense for five years. The skeptics further argue that Naresh must have been truly blessed to encounter such an atmosphere as he did at IIT Chennai. The professors and staff who went out of their way to help him must be repaying their debts of earlier births. And Google must have selected him to show that they champion the cause of the physically challenged and are in fact an equal opportunity employer.

I also viewed this story with a bit of disbelief as it appeared straight out of a fairy tale. I sought an answer for myself. "What drove Google to recruit a double amputee? Was it just to be seen as an equal opportunity employer even if it meant having to constantly make adjustments in the way they would work or was it the fact that Naresh was truly the best guy for the job?" I asked Google in an email.

I shall share with you what Google guys say in their response when I hear from them. In the meantime I ask all of you to write in with what you think could have driven Google to do it.