Music and Narayana Murthy

Narayana Murthy of Infosys was being interviewed on the Television. The interview was progressing normally. The interviewer asked Narayana Murthy about the type of music he liked. Narayana Murthy said “Western Symphony". Taken back by the answer the interviewer asked him “what about Indian music" Narayana Murthy said “Please do not mistake me. I like Indian music but I like the western symphony better". 

When asked to explain his views, Narayana Murthy gave the following explanation. In his view Indian music is very single person centred. For example if a musician is playing the Veena the entire focus is on the Veena player himself. Suppose a singer is reciting carnatic music the focus is totally on the singer. Even the accompanying player on the Veena is ignored. That is the way the Indian psyche is shaped. The entire focus is on the individual and on individual achievements. It is no wonder that Indians do well in sports where they compete individually. Take the case of chess, Billiards, and even in cricket where the records made by Sachin are more talked about than the defeats in which he was very much part of. 

At the same time the Western Symphony is totally team oriented. Symphony is a music where hundreds of musicians have to synchronize their music to the note. The beauty of the music that is produced by Symphony is unbelievable. Even if one note or musician is out of tune the audience will know that the music is not perfect. Symphony is all about team work. That is the message that Narayana Murthy wants to give us - Working in a corporate is all about team work just like the Symphony. All the employees have to come together to create  a perfect work or music. There is no scope for individual brilliance or Prima Donnas. All for one and one for all. That is the concept that Narayana Murthy is talking about.

Enjoying the job

It is said that if one’s hobby becomes his job that person is destined to do his job very well. Let me illustrate. Let us say we have a production worker. He has to fit bolts in the wheel assembly. He does his job well but he does not give it all that he has. That is he is working with his head and hands. But he is not giving his heart. 

Let us say that the same man loves dogs. In other words dogs are his hobby. As far as dogs are concerned he would do anything to satisfy his interest about dogs. He would pour over magazines on dogs, he would discuss threadbare about dogs with his friends. He would gape at pedigree dogs that he sees in the street. He would drive miles to see dog shows and he is an avid watcher of dog and wildlife progammes on the television. All this indicate that hobby is his all consuming passion. If that passion can come into our jobs we would be excellent as workers, and as employees. 

The job that our friend should look for is in the field of show dog breeding, dog training, sale of dog food and dog related accessories. That way he can pursue his hobby and make a living.  

Cities in India are crowed and most of the traffic is quite undisciplined and unruly. People honk, cut each other in the traffic, abuse and are at each other’s throat all the time. Their road rage is very apparent but the people most affected are the traffic cops. They are mostly helpless, ill equipped and have limited authority. They do not possess high speed vehicles and till very recently could not even record and apprehend errant drivers. 

The traffic cops did not have any protection against pollution and are a demoralized lot. They have to perform duties in hot sun and cheek in jowl with milling vehicles and traffic. No wonder they have grown surly, sulking and not surprisingly become aggressive and abusive. They are mostly ignored and are considered a minor irritant when one is driving.

But one traffic cop’s action is printed vividly in my eyes. This traffic junction was Jai hind cafe junction in Ashoknagar, Hyderabad. It was  manned by a traffic cop named Narsing Rao. Narsing Rao was a very nice man. He always has a ready smile and would cheerfully greet his regular friends. His style of directing traffic was like a ballet dance. He would gently chide drivers trying to cut ahead of traffic or who were trying to violate the rules. He would say “Arre Saab, why don’t you wait for a few seconds please?” His gentle manners and smile won him many admirers. 

Narsing Rao featured in the local press and became a minor celebrity. The story was caught on by the Television and he was featured in the local television channels and finally was a part of a BBC progamme. The state government recognized his services, gave his a promotion and made his an instructor in the traffic training school. I am sure that Narsing Rao became a very good teacher and may his tribe multiply exponentially.

I could get hold of a YouTube video titled dancing traffic cop . The gay abandon with which he dances makes us envious. We question ourselves as why is that we are not doing his job. That I think is the essence of doing any job. Do it so well that other people become envious of you and want to copy you. Look at Sachin Tendulkar the cricketing legend. He bats so well that he has spawned interest in two generations about cricket No one can replace Sachin but a Shewag has emerged and that is a plus for world cricket.

Dancing Cop