Narayana Murthy on Western Values

5/24/2018 Narayana Murthy on Western Values

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Narayana Murthy on Western Values

Western values are usually seen in India as not worthy of emulation.Narayana Murthy on values to emulate for Indians.Interesting speech rather than uniquely perceptive.

Narayana Murthy on Western Values

Ladies and gentlemen:

It is a pleasure to be here at the Lal ahadur !hastri Institute ofManagement. Lal ahadur !hastri was a man of strong values and heepitomi"ed simple living. #e was a freedom fighter and innovativeadministrator who contributed to nation building in full measure. Itis indeed a matter of pride for me to be chosen for the Lal ahadur!hastri $ward for %ublic $dministration and Management !ciences. Ithan& the 'ury for this honor.

When I got the invitation to spea& here( I decided to spea& on animportant topic on which I have pondered for years ) the role ofWestern values in contemporary Indian society. *oming from a companythat is built on strong values( the topic is close to my heart.Moreover( an organi"ation is representative of society( and some ofthe lessons that I have learnt are applicable in the national conte+t.In fact( values drive progress and define quality of life in society.

,he word community 'oins two Latin words com -together or with/and onus -one/. $ community( then( is both one and many. It is aunified multitude and not a mere group of people. $s it is said in the

Vedas: Man can live individually( but can survive only collectively.#ence( the challenge is to form a progressive community by balancingthe interests of the individual and that of the society. ,o meet this(we need to develop a value system where people accept modestsacrifices for the common good.

What is a value system0 It is the protocol for behavior that enhancesthe trust( confidence and commitment of members of the community. Itgoes beyond the domain of legality ) it is about decent and desirablebehavior. 1urther( it includes putting the community interests aheadof your own. ,hus( our collective survival and progress is predicatedon sound values.

,here are two pillars of the cultural value system ) loyalty to familyand loyalty to community. 2ne should not be in isolation to the other(because( successful societies are those which combine bothharmoniously. It is in this conte+t that I will discuss the role ofWestern values in contemporary Indian society.

!ome of you here might say that most of what I am going to discuss areactually Indian values in old ages( and not Western values. I live in


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the present( not in the bygone era. ,herefore( I have seen thesevalues practiced primarily in the West and not in India. #ence( thetitle of the topic.

I am happy as long as we practice these values ) whether we call itWestern or old Indian values. $s an Indian( I am proud to be part of a

culture( which has deep)rooted family values. We have tremendousloyalty to the family. 1or instance( parents ma&e enormous sacrificesfor their children. ,hey support them until they can stand on theirown feet. 2n the other side( children consider it their duty to ta&ecare of aged parents.

We believe: Mathru devo bhava ) mother is 3od( and pithru devo bhava )father is 3od. 1urther( brothers and sisters sacrifice for each other.In fact( the eldest brother or sister is respected by all the othersiblings. $s for marriage( it is held to be a sacred union ) husbandand wife are bonded( most often( for life. In 'oint families( theentire family wor&s towards the welfare of the family. ,here is so

much love and affection in our family life.

,his is the essence of Indian values and one of our &ey strengths. 2urfamilies act as a critical support mechanism for us. In fact( thecredit to the success of Infosys goes( as much to the founders as totheir families( for supporting them through the tough times.4nfortunately( our attitude towards family life is not reflected inour attitude towards community behavior. 1rom littering the streets tocorruption to brea&ing of contractual obligations( we are apathetic tothe common good. In the West ) the 4!( *anada( 5urope( $ustralia( New6ealand ) individuals understand that they have to be responsibletowards their community.

,he primary difference between the West and us is that( there( peoplehave a much better societal orientation. ,hey care more for thesociety than we do. 1urther( they generally sacrifice more for thesociety than us. 7uality of life is enhanced because of this. ,his iswhere we need to learn from the West.I will tal& about some of the lessons that we( Indians( can learn from theWest.

In the West( there is respect for the public good. 1or instance( par&sfree of litter( clean streets( public toilets free of graffiti ) allthese are instances of care for the public good. 2n the contrary( in

India( we &eep our houses clean and water our gardens everyday ) but(when we go to a par&( we do not thin& twice before littering theplace.

*orruption( as we see in India( is another e+ample of putting theinterest of oneself( and at best that of one8s family( above that ofthe society. !ociety is relatively corruption free in the West. 1orinstance( it is very difficult to bribe a police officer into avoidinga speeding tic&et.


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,his is because of the individual8s responsible behavior towards thecommunity as a whole 2n the contrary( in India( corruption( ta+evasion( cheating and bribery have eaten into our vitals. 1orinstance( contractors bribe officials( and construct low)quality roadsand bridges. ,he result is that society loses in the form of

substandard defense equipment and infrastructure( and low)qualityrecruitment( 'ust to name a few impediments. 4nfortunately( thisbehavior is condoned by almost everyone.$pathy in solving community matters has held us bac& from ma&ingprogress( which is otherwise within our reach. We see serious problemsaround us but do not try to solve them. We behave as if the problemsdo not e+ist or is somebody else8s. 2n the other hand( in the West(people solve societal problems proactively. ,here are several e+amplesof our apathetic attitude. 1or instance( all of us are aware of theproblem of drought in India.

More than 9 years ago( ;r. ?@A( it was decided to build a thermal powerplant to meet angalore8s power requirements. 4nfortunately( we havestill not started it. 1urther( the Milan subway in ombay is in adeplorable state for the last 9 years( and no action has been ta&en.

,o quote another e+ample( considering the constant travel required inthe software industryB five years ago( I had suggested a C9)pagepassport. ,his would eliminate frequent visits to the passport office.In fact( we are ready to pay for it. #owever( I am yet to hear from

the Ministry of 5+ternal $ffairs on this.

We( Indians( would do well to remember ,homas #unter8s words:Idlenesstravels very slowly( and poverty soon overta&es it. What could be thereason for all this0 We were ruled by foreigners for over thousandyears. ,hus( we have always believed that public issues belonged tosome foreign ruler and that we have no role in solving them.

Moreover( we have lost the will to proactively solve our own problems.,hus( we have got used to 'ust e+ecuting someone else8s orders.orrowing $ristotle8s words: We are what we repeatedly do. ,hus(

having done this over the years( the decision)ma&ers in our societyare not trained for solving problems. 2ur decision)ma&ers loo& tosomebody else to ta&e decisions. 4nfortunately( there is nobody toloo& up to( and this is the tragedy.

2ur intellectual arrogance has also not helped our society. I havetraveled e+tensively( and in my e+perience( have not come acrossanother society where people are as contemptuous of better societiesas we are( with as little progress as we have achieved. =emember that


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arrogance breeds hypocrisy. No other society gloats so much about thepast as we do( with as little current accomplishment.

1riends( this is not a new phenomenon( but at least a thousand yearsold. 1or instance( $l arouni( the famous $rabic logician and travelerof the >th century( who spent about A years in India from ??D $; to

around >CD $;( referred to this trait of Indians. $ccording to him(during his visit( most Indian pundits considered it below theirdignity even to hold arguments with him. In fact( on a few occasionswhen a pundit was willing to listen to him( and found his arguments tobe very sound( he invariably as&ed arouni: which Indian pundit taughtthese smart thingsE

,he most important attribute of a progressive society is respect forothers who have accomplished more than they themselves have( andlearnfrom them. *ontrary to this( our leaders ma&e us believe that othersocieties do not &now anythingE $t the same time( everyday( in the

newspapers( you will find numerous claims from our leaders that oursis the greatest nation. ,hese people would do well to remember ,homas*arlyle8s words: ,he greatest of faults is to be conscious of none.

If we have to progress( we have to change this attitude( listen topeople who have performed better than us( learn from them and performbetter than them. Infosys is a good e+ample of such an attitude. Wecontinue to rationali"e our failures. No other society has masteredthis part as well as we have. 2bviously( this is an e+cuse to 'ustifyour incompetence( corruption( and apathy. ,his attitude has to change.$s !ir Fosiah !tamp has said: It is easy to dodge ourresponsibilities( but we cannot dodge the consequences of dodging our

responsibilities.

$nother interesting attribute( which we Indians can learn from theWest( is their accountability. Irrespective of your position( in theWest( you are held accountable for what you do. #owever( in India( themore 8important8 you are( the less answerable you are. 1or instance( asenior politician once declared that he 8forgot8 to file his ta+returns for > consecutive years ) and he got away with it. ,o quoteanother instance( there are over > loss ma&ing public sector units-central/ in India. Nevertheless( I have not seen action ta&en for badperformance against top managers in these organi"ations.

;ignity of labor is an integral part of the Western value system. Inthe West( each person is proud about his or her labor that raiseshonest sweat. 2n the other hand( in India( we tend to overloo& thesignificance of those who are not in professional 'obs. We have a mindset that reveres only supposedly intellectual wor&.

1or instance( I have seen many engineers( fresh from college( who onlywant to do cutting)edge wor& and not wor& that is of relevance tobusiness and the country. #owever( be it an organi"ation or society(


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there are different people performing different roles. 1or success(all these people are required to discharge their duties. ,his includeseveryone from the *52 to the person who serves tea ) every role isimportant. #ence( we need a mind set that reveres everyone who puts inhonest wor&.

Indians become intimate even without being friendly. ,hey as& favorsof strangers without any hesitation. 1or instance( the other day(while I was traveling from angalore to Mantralaya( I met a fellowtraveler on the train. #ardly G minutes into the conversation( herequested me to spea& to his M; about removing him from the bottom>Hlist in his company( earmar&ed for disciplinary action. I was remindedof what =udyard


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important ) enforceability of legal rights and contracts is the mostimportant factor in the enhancement of credibility of our people andnation.In India( we consider our marriage vows as sacred. We are willing tosacrifice in order to respect our marriage vows. #owever( we do note+tend this to the public domain. 1or instance( India had an

unfavorable contract with 5nron. Instead of punishing the peopleresponsible for negotiating this( we reneged on the contract ) thiswas much before we came to &now about the illegal activities at 5nron.

,o quote another instance( I had given recommendations to severalstudents for the national scholarship for higher studies in 4!universities. Most of them did not return to India even thoughcontractually they were obliged to spend five years after their degreein India.

In fact( according to a professor at a reputed 4! university( thema+imum default rate for student loans is among Indians ) all of these

students pass out in flying colors and land lucrative 'obs( yet theyrefuse to pay bac& their loans. ,hus( their action has made itdifficult for the students after them( from India( to obtain loans. Wehave to change this attitude.

1urther( we Indians do not display intellectual honesty. 1or e+ample(our political leaders use mobile phones to tell 'ournalists on theother side that they do not believe in technologyE If we want ouryoungsters to progress( such hypocrisy must be stopped. We are allaware of our rights as citi"ens. Nevertheless( we often fail toac&nowledge the duty that accompanies every right. ,o borrow ;wight5isenhower8s words: %eople that values its privileges above its

principles soon loses both. 2ur duty is towards the community as awhole( as much as it is towards our families.

We have to remember that fundamental social problems grow out of alac& of commitment to the common good. ,o quote #enry eecher:*ultureis that which helps us to wor& for the betterment of all. #ence(friends( I do believe that we can ma&e our society even better byassimilating these Western values into our own culture ) we will bestronger for it.

Most of our behavior comes from greed( lac& of self)confidence( lac&

of confidence in the nation( and lac& of respect for the society. ,oborrow 3andhi8s words: ,here is enough in this world for everyone8sneed( but not enough for everyone8s greed. Let us wor& towards asociety where we would do unto others what we would have others dounto us. Let us all be responsible citi"ens who ma&e our country agreat place to live.In the words of *hurchill: =esponsibility is the price of greatness.We have to e+tend our family values beyond the boundaries of ourhome.


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1inally( let us wor& towards ma+imum welfare of the ma+imum people )!amasta 'anaanaam su&hino bhavantu. ,hus( let us ) people of thisgeneration( conduct ourselves as great citi"ens rather than 'ust goodpeople so that we can serve as good e+amples for our youngergeneration.

Narayana Murthy on Western Values

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