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News / Opinion / Columns / Dear Narayana Murthy, here’s why you need to read Karl Marx, Thoreau and
John Ruskin
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Dear Narayana Murthy, here’s

why you need to read Karl
Marx, Thoreau and John
Ruskin
We need to rescue the power of our imagination or aspiration for good and
meaningful life from what Murthy seems to be pleading for — work, work
and work with the sole aim of ‘economic prosperity’

Written by Avijit Pathak

Updated: November 2, 2023 22:23 IST

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While Narayana Murthy's ask to youngsters has been supported by many other CEOs, science doesn't
support his claim. (Express photo by Pavan Khengre/File)

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Even though I do not see myself as a “lazy” person, I find it difficult to give my
consent to Infosys founder Narayana Murthy’s appeal to the younger generation —
I mean the paid employees of the techno-corporate world — to work for 70 hours in
a week. Well, Murthy — a creative entrepreneur with immensely rich experience —
is more aware than an “anarchist” like me of the instrumental logic of neoliberal
“productivity” and “economic prosperity”.

Possibly, he thinks that nothing matters more in life than the acquisition of a set of
techno-managerial skills that equips one with the ability to work day and night,
enrich one’s career graph, and above all, enhance the profit rate of the neoliberal
techno- empire, or, for that matter, help the associated political establishment to
feel proud of India’s growing economic power. Yes, Murthy’s “success story” is likely
to sanctify everything he says; and some of us would begin to argue that the rich
are rich because they work hard, and the poor are poor because they are lazy!

Yet, my philosophic anarchy gives me the strength to question this sort of

instrumental and morally faulty reasoning. Let me make three observations.

First, it is wrong to keep worshipping the fetish of economic prosperity and

productivity without looking at what really matters for the growth of a sane and
 egalitarian society — the practice of distributive justice, or the spirit of non-
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possessiveness and egalitarian ethos of sharing. In fact, if Murthy opens his eyes,
and converses with, say, a housewife in a poor/lower middle class patriarchal
family, a daily wage earner, a security guard, an auto-rickshaw driver in Mumbai
or Delhi, a landless farmer in Bihar or Uttar Pradesh, or even an otherwise well-
qualified “guest” lecturer in Indian universities, he will realise that they are not
lazy. In fact, some of them are working day and night — even more than 70 hours in
a week.

Yet, they remain poor. In fact, even for a skilled daily wage earner in a state like
Bihar, it is difficult to earn more than Rs 16,000 per month. They have not chosen to
be poor. The reason behind the cycle of poverty is the very rationale of
“productivity” without distributive justice, or “growth” without equity. One need
not be a “communist” for seeing this structural violence; one just needs to be self-
introspective and humane. In fact, Murthy can look at the huge discrepancy in the
salary structure of some of the leading corporate houses in India. Even in 2023, a
report suggests, Infosys is paying young freshers only Rs. 3.72 lakh annually. But
then, as the report says, the CEO’s pay is almost 2,200 times a fresher’s pay.

Second, I would urge Murthy to reflect on what can broadly be perceived as

“alienation” in the work sphere. Well, young Karl Marx wrote extensively on
“alienation” or “estrangement”— the kind of work that is far removed from
creative play, and causes a sense of fatigue and meaninglessness. Yes, a creative
artist can spend even 15 hours with absolute mindfulness while portraying, say, an
amazing landscape. A work of this kind fulfills her; the artist and her painting
become one.

But then, talk to a young computer engineer working for, say, 70 hours in a week,
spending two hours every day commuting, and constantly exhausting himself for
meeting the deadline. Even an attractive “salary package” will not give him what is
needed for his mental health and psychic well-being — the non-utilitarian realm of
walking, singing, playing, or, say, watching a Charlie Chaplin film. “Well-paid/well-
clothed”, yet spiritually impoverished and psychologically wounded over-stressed
young workforce — is it what Murthy is pleading for? Is he completely unaware of
the existential pain and other health issues relating to what many would regard as
the “burnout” effect?
 And finally, we need to rescue the power of our imagination or aspiration for good
Home Ahmedabad India Explained Opinion Business Entertainment Sports Politics Lifestyle Tech
and meaningful life from what Murthy seems to be pleading for — work, work and
work with the sole aim of “economic prosperity”. Well, Murthy might think that the
likes of Henry David Thoreau and John Ruskin were romantic fools. After all, who
bothers about them when the industry of bestseller “self- help” books — yes,
another product of neoliberalism — is continually preaching us the lessons of
becoming a billionaire, acquiring fame and becoming “successful”?

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But then, there are still some “mad” people around who seek to whisper in our ears:
There is something more to life than the act of being confined to a cubicle in the
lavish corporate house, working ceaselessly, and then consuming mindlessly in a
supermall on the weekend. Possibly, they are saying that “idleness” is tremendously
beautiful; it enables us to know ourselves, and gives us the “surplus” time to look at
the sunset and invoke Vincent van Gogh, or meditate on the play of a butterfly with
a tiny yellow flower.

Pathak writes on culture, pedagogy and politics

© The Indian Express Pvt Ltd

First published on: 02-11-2023 at 07:17 IST

TAGS: Express Premium Karl Marx Narayana Murthy NR Narayana Murthy

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