Breathtaking. That's the word.

I am in Infosys City, which software giant Infosys Technologies unveiled recently.

Before me the campus just sprawls and sprawls -- but prettily, in control.

This is more than just another info-tech campus, I tell myself. I wouldn't have any hesitation in calling it The Complete City.

You see, it is not just about creating computer programs by the thousands -- though, of course, that is the main thing -- but about a better life. (You guys, running to catch the flight to the United States, hold on! Read this before you go!)

Your head in a whirl after battling the Machine all day? No sweat, knock a ball around the golf course. Or have a go at tennis. How about a game of basketball? Sauna? Steam? Jacuzzi?

Oh, you are not into sweating but looking 'cool', eh? No probs, you can hang out at the Domino's Pizza joint. Or at the sexy ice-cream parlours here. A game of billiards, perhaps? Ah, now ain't that real cool?

Well, to use one of my favourite clichés', Infosys City has all this and more. A word about its location, before we proceed.

The headquarters of India's most famous software company is in Bangalore's Electronic City. If the E-City is the most favoured destination of info-tech gurus today, it is because of Infosys.

The visionaries of Infosys, led by Chairman and Chief Executive Officer N R Narayanana Murthy, offers an enticing array of facilities that few companies in the country -- or, for that matter, in the world -- can boast.

It has everything we listed above -- including that classy golf course, the call of which Japanese Prime Minister Yoshiro Mori couldn't resist when he came down two months ago.

'TO be a globally respected corporation that provides best-of-breed software solutions delivered by best-in-class people' is Infosys's motto. With its new campus, the giant seems to be on the right track.

This 50-acre campus is the largest investment by any company in India at a single location. It took Infosys, which bought the property in two instalments in 1993, nearly seven years to develop it into what it is today.

Phaneesh Murthy, head of sales and marketing, Infosys Technologies, tells me that the total constructed space in the campus is -- hang on to something -- 900,000 square feet. Just the buildings cost the company Rs 3.20 billion.

"A new set of buildings is under construction. When those are completed, the total constructed space will be more than 1.25 million square feet," Murthy adds.

The campus now accommodates 4,500 employees. When the new buildings come into being, it will have the capacity to house more than 6,500.

Just in passing, Infosys has the largest number of employees operating out of its campuses. Including the Infosys City in Bangalore, the company owns nearly 1.45 million square feet in Madras, Hyderabad, Pune, Mangalore, Bhubaneshwar, Mysore and Mohali.

MORE than the golf course and the pizza place, what pulls me in is the huge gymnasium -- all 5,000 square feet of it.

Well, perhaps I must admit that I have always had a weakness for exercise places. Always been planning to get into the act, you see, but never got around to it. But had I been a resident of Infosys City, I bet I wouldn't have wasted any time changing into shorts and singlet.

Before me are, besides a regular gym with bodybuilding equipment, one basketball and two tennis courts, snooker and billiards facilities, a swimming pool, a jacuzzi, steam and sauna... the works, as they say. Soon to come: a jogging track and an acre of fountains and a lake with paddling boats!

If the gym made me think of switching from journalism to programming, my next stop, Food Courts, nearly makes me pen my resignation right away.

It is exquisite, the Food Courts. The architecture is Greek. The food they serve, however, is Chinese, South Indian and North Indian.

Three large kitchens serve nearly 5,000 every day. MTR Caterers, Bangalore's best-known foodmen, has a branch in the campus. A coffee shop serves 12 different kinds of coffee. For those who want dessert, there is an ice-cream parlour.

So ask me, how big is the Food Courts? Approximately 120,000 square feet, I will tell you.

Bigger than the Food Courts is the Infosys customer care department, which incidentally is touted as the 'best' building in Bangalore. It has a large lobby, a breakfast lounge that can seat 150 people, a recruitment centre, and eight beautiful conference rooms.

Nearby is the Education and Research Centre, which is the single largest location for training software professionals in the country. The library here is pretty huge: 30,000 square feet.

Infosys is now constructing another massive block, in 60,000 square feet, that will train people in the finest practices of management.

I ask about the power supply in the city and gets more awed.

The campus, it would appear, has more cables than any other in the country. It has 13.5 kilometres of power cabling and 22 kilometres of optical fibre and jelly-filled cabling. The Infosys EPABX has a capacity of 7,000 lines. It has more than 5,000 PCs and 100 servers.

What sets apart the software giant from its peers is the greenness of its campus. With 3,500 trees, it is an ideal green destination. Like in New Delhi's Rajghat, planting a tree in the campus is a must for any distinguished visitor.

Infosys uses nearly 250,000 litres of water every day. But water conservation is a very important feature of the green campaign here. Wastewater is recycled for use on the lawns. Ground water is recharged. Rainwater is channelled into wells.

I enquire about the medical facilities here (with the ulterior motive of asking for an Aspirin -- being taken up consistently, so much and for so long, you see, has gifted me a splitting headache). A gent guides me to the medical centre, where two doctors are in attendance.

On my way out, I see an ATM -- one of the four that the ICICI Bank has set up in the campus. So you needn't leave the campus even to withdraw money... I think I really should write that resignation letter!

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