Samsung's think tank head Pranav Mistry keen to work with PM Narendra Modi

AHMEDABAD: India-born computer scientist and all-round whiz kid Pranav Mistry, known for cutting-edge innovations focused on the fields of wearable technology and augmented reality among others, wants nothing more than to give up what many would consider a dream job and come back home to work with Narendra Modi. “I am waiting for him to pop the question... and ready to say bye to my lab,” Mistry, vice-president of research at Samsung and head of its Think Tank Team based in Silicon Valley, told ET.

Well known for his work on Sixth-Sense and the Samsung Galaxy Gear, Mistry will call on the prime minister in June. “I am keen to serve one-sixth of the world’s population where the miracles of science and technology would multiply manifold for betterment of mankind,” said Mistry, who’s been a Modi fanboy for a while now. That esteem is reciprocated.

If the two team up, India could witness the kind of partnership that former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi had with Sam Pitroda that ushered in India’s telecom revolution in the 1980s. Prime Minister Modi has many firsts to his credit as an early technology adaptor, be it using Google Hangouts, 3D holograms, social media platforms such as Twitter, Facebook, YouTube. That he holds Mistry in high regard is evident.

As chief minister of Gujarat, he has widely recommended Mistry’s TED presentations on Sixth-Sense Technology and even distributed video copies of these. The two first met in 2011, when Mistry, an MIT student at the time, was asked by Modi to address his Cabinet, district collectors and school children. The innovator, who is clearly impressed with Modi’s scientific bent of mind and approach to governance, said: “We would discuss ways I could get involved more actively in this service to our nation... I am keen to help him in whichever way I could.”

He doesn’t have political aspirations. “I have poor people skills and I cannot become a minister. I (am more suited to a role) as an advisor to the PM or to the science and technology ministry.”

While a job in New Delhi among bureaucrats and politicians would be a far cry from his current high-profile assignment in the US, Mistry believes opportunities lie in challenges. “I am working on exciting projects that enable me to effect change at the industry level. After my work at Samsung, the industry is talking about wearable (technology). Had I wanted, I could have set up my own company, secured funding and made money. That proposition, however, does not excite me since it would be a very self-centric goal. If I get to be here (in India), I see myself in a role of bringing change to lives of the masses, which is far more satisfying (than being an innovator per se),” he said.

Mistry hails from Palanpur, a small town in north Gujarat. Friends and acquaintances who were part of Modi’s campaign team in the recently concluded Lok Sabha elections had put up hoardings with his message urging the electorate to help form a new government under Modi. From Silicon Valley, Mistry himself mobilised opinion among Indians and the global community at large.

On May 26, when Modi took the oath of office as Prime Minister, Mistry tweeted: “Today is a new beginning. A day when India gets freedom from dynasty politics. A day of hope and dreams. Jai hind. @narendramodi.” He adds: “Someone’s stature does not impress me unless of course he has served a bigger cause.” Mistry feels poor governance at the Centre has delayed India’s surge as a global superpower in the last decade. “China overtook us. But now we have to redefine the system. We need a thrust in R&D across all sectors – energy and infrastructure to begin with – to fuel growth. We need to stop talking and start acting and I am more than eager to be part of that change,” he said.

Jaynarayan Vyas, a former minister in the Gujarat cabinet under Modi, said: “With so many patents and innovations to his credit, Pranav Mistry is a celebrity and a sensation. His innovations using IT and electronics merit appreciation in today's digitalised world engaging in multi-faceted dialogues and data transfer.”