Author: Editorial
Publication: The Pioneer
Date: April 12, 2007
Murthy feels anthem is embarrassing
The lone Kannada Chaluvali Paksha legislator
in Karnataka Assembly was perhaps being unnecessarily harsh while describing
Infosys chief mentor NR Narayana Murthy as a "traitor" for "insulting
the National Anthem". But such irascible comments apart, the criticism
that is being heaped upon the man who claims to have been in the vanguard
of India's information technology revolution is largely justified. It is shocking
that he should have chosen to play an instrumental version of the National
Anthem over a faulty sound system, which made the rendition seem like a cell
phone ringer tone, during President APJ Abdul Kalam's visit to the Infosys
facility in Mangalore last Sunday. Worse, when asked why the National Anthem
was not sung, as is the customary practice when an event is attended by the
President, Mr Murthy came up with a facetious response: "We had arranged
for five persons to sing the anthem. But then we cancelled it as we have foreigners
on board here. They should not be embarrassed while we sing the anthem."
His clarification is, to put it mildly, disingenuous. If the National Anthem
had been sung at the Infosys facility in Mangalore, it would not have been
the first time that foreigners would have been present. In any event, there
is absolutely no reason why the foreigners present on the occasion should
have felt "embarrassed". If there is any cause for embarrassment,
it is entirely Mr Murthy's. His eloquent statement after being pilloried for
such gross display of callous disregard to national sentiments - "We
are a proud Indian company... It has always been our endeavour to represent
India with the highest standards of respect" - comes across as both hollow
and false. For all his attempts to project himself as a 'Made in India' success
story, he and his enterprise today stand exposed, to quote an infuriated blogger,
as no more than "a rootless global corporation with sole allegiance to
profits". His tall talk cannot hide his insincerity. Or so it would appear
from the manner in which he has tried to brush aside Sunday's incident.
It would, however, be unfair to blame Mr Murthy
alone for placing himself on a pedestal far higher than he deserves for his
achievements and the balance sheet of the company he founded. Indians tend
to over-rate their achievers, irrespective of whether they are entrepreneurs,
sportspersons or entertainers. Once the popular impression - fuelled in large
measure by huge PR budgets and servile mediapersons - of an individual as
a self-made achiever gains ground, his or her many flaws are conveniently
overlooked. For instance, nobody would bother with Infosys's insatiable hunger
for land or question why an IT firm must be accorded special status while
doling out Government largesse in the form of land allotments. On the contrary,
most people believe in the fiction that Karnataka survives on Infosys's contribution
to that State's economy and that Bangalore would have been no more than a
one-horse town if Mr Murthy had not decided to set up his business in that
city. It is, therefore, not surprising that Mr Murthy should have come to
believe in a larger-than-life image of himself, for whom everything else is
secondary. Including the National Anthem of India.
