K. JAVEED NAYEEM writes: Along with all the positive media coverage that President A.P.J. Abdul Kalam‘s visit to Mysore got, we also got, a glimpse of the unfortunate controversy generated by the rather careless remarks made by Narayana Murthy of Infosys with regard to the singing of the National Anthem and the Cauvery protests.
Although every whiff of the life-giving oxygen he breathes and every coin that jingles in his pockets is from beyond our shores, he should have been a little more cautious with his statements, especially while referring to sensitive issues at a rather sensitive and painful time.
But what amused me most were the pictures in almost all the newspapers of the star couple of the IT sector squatting on a humble kerbstone of their own citadel while waiting for the President to arrive.
The duo could easily have asked for a few chairs to be put there not only for themselves but also for all the others who were waiting with them. In fact, I am sure that members of their staff would have offered to do this which they might have declined.
I know that they have had very humble beginnings and continue to be very down to earth despite their present position but I wonder if such a show of mock humility was really necessary. I would have considered this scene perfectly natural if they had been seen like this in a place where they were unknown and unrecognised.
Pictures like this look too “painted” and people can easily see through such subterfuges and will only laugh at such gimmicks.
The founder and chief of Infosys and his wife squatting on the roadside certainly would have been more of an embarrassment and discomfort to the foreigners on their campus than the singing of our National Anthem as all others in the group, both Indian and foreign, could then only have stood or squatted likewise.
Incidentally, it has been rightly said that humility is a very strange and elusive thing: The moment we think we have it, we have lost it!
***
Dr K. Javeed Nayeem is a practising physician. This piece appears in today’s Star of Mysore, where he writes a regular column, ‘Over a cup of evening tea’.
Photo courtesy: Star of Mysore
Not Again
Statuatory warning : Too Much NRN is injurious to health and will drive people to brink of capitalism
Great, now the poor chap can’t even sit down without drawing criticism. The “gimmick” is only in Nayeem’s eyes… I think we’re getting into the realm of the absurd here.
Well said, Dr Nayeem. I concede that it is their right what they want to do. And as Aditya says, it may be no gimmick, just a perfectly natural thing that they would do, whether or not the President and the Press were around. But did our need to be so conspicuous about our simplicity and humility? Or did the security requirements for the President’s visit disallow them from using chairs?
I saw a picture in Praja Vani which showed Mrs Murthy reading an S.L. Bhyrappa book. Yeh point note kiya jaaye, your honour.
If they had asked for chairs and sat on them next to each other, the headline would have been
“King and Queen of Infosys wait for the President”
The photo would show just them sitting on chairs, while another photo would show a couple of people squatting.
Damned if you do, damned if you don’t…….
Aditya, You can’t blame Nayeem for this gimmick.
Why do the moderators of this board only pick such pieces to report?
Ombudsman is right in saying that this blog lives of bashing NRN and it sustains on that.
i would be interested in that moonshine that the good doc prescribes for himself. seems like a potent concoction, allowing one to see what they wish to see. i have some great spasmic visions. i would be interested in that moonshine that the good doc prescribes for himself.
What next?
Jessica Lall ‘invited’ the shot by refusing drinks to an armed and dangerous drunk?
That Manjunath deserved what he got because he knew how dangerous the UP mafia was?
That anything positive about this country should be attacked because it is positive and I have contributed nothing to it anyway?
Perhaps all good and virtue in this country should be hidden away and all the evil and rot glorified till our appetite for self-pity and cowardice is satisfied.
Aditya, agree with you 100 per cent: “The poor chap can’t even sit down without drawing criticism.”
What are we coming to? — DaakTrey, is there a dearth of real issues or what.
Please could we have NRN-free blogging for six month?
Yes , Please no more NRN . Its like Putting Spoon into our Brains .( medhaLge spoon haakidhaange) .
Lets have some other topic .lets stop ‘Avanandha’ ‘yivanandha’…
Yes Narayana Murthy is a pompous ass full of pretentious bullshit. But there is such a thing as overdoing it. First it was the debacle in the West Indies and now this. Is there a dearth of worthwhile topics? For starters : the slow death of Mysore’s charm, nobody’s reading Kannada literature anymore ? Or has Rupert Murdoch, Fox News and Sensationalism become the order of the day. PLZ KP there must be somthing qualitatively different between Mr Muthry’s ( I cldnt resist that ) fould protestations and Churumuri’s impact.
Kp avare narayanange swalpa rest kotre henge?
I agree, no more public flogging of NRN. For a change, how about Devaraja market and the morons trying to erase it out of the face of the earth. Any one has any idea about what Srikanta Dutta Wodeyar is upto these days? We surely need blog postings about Wodeyar dynasty and what this last Wodeyar’s contrubtions are . Has he any interest in blogs? If he has, we could invite him to do a write up.
Too much of NRN bashing, really. It makes one think Churumuri has something seriously against him.
A couple sit comfortably, just like the old days and some one takes a photo. A journo comes up with a new description and calls it painting. wow! hats off.
Hanumanji
You are a royalty-struck fan! The present uncrowned maharaja is of course an ordinary gent like you and me. He is probably watching a rented DVD now.
Well Devaraja Market has to be preserved. But we have to be constructive–lets have a discussion on this folks. Thank you.
Get off NRN’s back. He did the most natural thing when one wants to rest – which is to sit down.
A suggestion to the blog owner: comments should be in reverse order, ie latest entry on top. This spares us the agony of scrolling down each time we enter the blog.
You won’t believe it! the other day I noticed NRN reading ‘Playboy’ upside down. When he saw me watching him, he buried it under the very tree he was sitting besides!
houdu, NRNna bitbidrappa…
Indian National**
your suggestion should be to blog portal not the individual blog.
One impulsive comment blurted out without perhaps any real intention to disrespect Natioanal Anthem has resulted in NRN being shot down from his high perch to which he was raised by the media (not of his own making) to ground zero. He has obviously realised that he has commited a serioous misdemeanour and was graceful enough to apologise quickly. It is time we move on to other issues.
Wonder what has churmuri got against NRN. Instead of being proud of the fact that NRN is from Mysooru, you seem to derive immense pleasure in downsizing him. We do not have the courage to take on those with ill-gotten wealth and the means through which they obtain it. But here is a person who has created wealth for himself and others through legitimate means and churmuri revels in maligning him!
Yes, I agree ‘churumuri’ should stop critisizing NRN and look at other issues affecting Mysore (or Karnataka or India for that matter). In the early days of churumuri, there were many posts about NRN and his company and then there was a break for some time. Now NRN postings resurfaced again.
NRN is also human and like all of us, he also had one bad day when he talked about National Anthem. In the name of globalisation, NRN may have went little over the top. Had he used any other word other than ’embarass’, he should have been OK and the whole media may not be so feverish about this incident.
Not realising how his statement will affect, NRN said it and apologised about it. We should just leave it at that and move on. I know, NRN will be remembered about anthem issue for many years to come than all his achievements.
This article was published in DH dated 14 April
By N Niranjan Nikam
What is with the icons in this country now-a-days? Each a legend in his own right and a role model. One the super god of cricket and the other manna for the techies. And inadvertently both of them are involved in the controversies relating to nationalism and patriotism. If one allegedly cut a cake in the colours of the national flag during the Indian team’s stay in the West Indies last month, the other’s remarks regarding the national anthem has send the whole country into a frenzy.
Yes we are talking here about Sachin Tendulkar, the greatest batsman India has produced and N R Narayana Murthy, chief mentor Infosys, a company he has built to international standards. Both of them are in the news now for all the wrong reasons. Sachin apart from his batting woes, not only has now got notice from the BCCI to explain why he chose to speak out of context but adding to his woes is the news that he had cut a cake with national tri-colours. The explanation is that he was not aware of the colour of the cake and even before he realised he had cut the cake. “The blame lies squarely with the Indian High Commission and not with Sachin Tendulkar,” said BCCI vice president Rajiv Shukla.
Murthy of course apologised immediately. But the question that arises is why did he make such a statement at all. Being a meticulous planner and an achiever all his life, did he not realise the import of his off-the-cuff remarks.
When role models like Murthy and Sachin commit such blunders, is it that they are slipping? Has the ego got into them because they have become larger than life pictures. Watching closely the progress of both the models, it is hard to believe that they would let their guards down as both have been in the public eye for decades. Besides, as many who have known them closely vouch that they are humility personified.
Now Murthy by just making a provocative statement has exposed himself to the harsh realities and suddenly the hero has become a villain and the legislators are going hammer and tong against him baying for his blood. Many politicians themselves who have come from the rungs are now glibly talking about Murthy 20 years back. Should we not feel proud that a person rose from the rungs and became a living example for others to follow by following best business practices. How much have not enjoyed when the great Australian spin wizard Shane Warne said he was having nightmares after Sachin mauled him in that great series in India a couple of years back.
However, one thing is clear from these two episodes involving the icons, the higher you reach the greater the fall. Whether it is Sachin or Murthy they are human and they have all the human frailties.
Now coming to Dr Javed Naeem’s observations, he is spot on.
May be KP as many have said it is high time we moved on and as some have rightly pointed out, talk about Devaraj Market where I spend the better part of my life! Or talk to Mr Wadiyar and his new interests.