Her father was one of the founders of Infosys. But Shruti doesn’t want to be an ‘Infosys nerd’. She, instead, runs a plush restaurant in Bangalore.
She is a dusky 24-year old with a sparkling smile. She majored in chemistry from Haverford College in Pennsylvania, US, and later dabbled in teaching, microfinance and wealth management. She also had a stint at Merrill Lynch in New York.

The world would have expected her to serve up computer software. Instead Shruti Shibulal, daughter of S.D. Shibulal, co-founder and chief operating officer of major outsourcing firm Infosys Technologies, dishes out chilled apple mousses and potato wasabi soup at her fine dining restaurant, Caperberry which opened in Bangalore in March.
Caperberry has high ceilings, modern interiors in light wood, black leather and brown suede, and friendly staff. The restaurant is situated just off the bustling Mahatma Gandhi Road, its setting a far cry from the gleaming glass and landscaped gardens of the company Shruti’s father helped launch 28 years ago.

When Shruti told her father she wanted to start a restaurant, he was proud his first-born has the courage to experiment. “I have always encouraged her to do things differently based on her interests and capabilities,” says Shibulal.
The differing career paths of the father and daughter represent a new trend in India where, traditionally, businesses and companies have been handed from one generation to the next. And this new shift holds more true for the children of Infosys’ founders than anyone else. Their fathers may have laid the foundations of the Rs 21,693-crore-revenue, 100,000-plus brand of Infosys. But their children are going in another way.

... contd.