Lessons in Values from the West

1. Diploma Engineering Sem I English (3300002) What We Must Learn from the West SECTION 2-A: COMPREHENSION PASSAGESWhat We Must Learn from the West- Narayan MurthyPrepared and Presented byImran Khan Mh. Yusufzay(Asst. Prof. in English)Om Engineering College, Junagadh.

2. Origin of the passage What We Must Learn from the West This is actually a Lecture – “Role of Western values in contemporary Indian society” – delivered at the LalBahadurShastri Institute of Management on October 02, 2002 by Mr. Narayan Murthy, the Chairman of the Board, Infosys Technologies Limited, Bangalore, India Please visit: www.lbsim.ac.in

3. Who is Narayan Murhty? Nagavara Ramarao Narayana Murthy Commonly referred to as Narayana Murthy, Indian IT industrialist The co-founder of Infosys, (a multinational corporation providing business consulting, technology, engineering, and outsourcing services.) What We Must Learn from the West

4. Who is Narayan Murhty? Born: August 20, 1946 (age 68), Mysore Wife: Sudha Murthy (m. 1978) Children: Rohan Murthy, Akshata Murthy Awards: PadmaVibhushan Education: University of Mysore, Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur, National Institute of Engineering What We Must Learn from the West

5. Some of the lessons N. Murthy learnt from the West regarding values are applicable to us as a Nation. Those are as below: What We Must Learn from the West Respect for the public Good Acknowledging the Accomplishment of Others Accountability Dignity of Labor Professionalism Intellectual Independence Honoring Contracts

6. Respect for the public Good What We Must Learn from the West Our attitude towards community is very different from our attitude towards the family. We keep our homes spotlessly clean, when we go out we do not think twice before littering.

7. We don’t treat society as our home Home  Society  What We Must Learn from the West

8. We don’t treat society as our home Home  Society  What We Must Learn from the West

9. We don’t treat society as our home Home  Society  What We Must Learn from the West

10. We don’t treat society as our home Home  Society  What We Must Learn from the West

11. On the other hand, parks in the West are generally free from litter and their streets are clean. What We Must Learn from the West

12. On the other hand, parks in the West are generally free from litter and their streets are clean. What We Must Learn from the West

13. On the other hand, parks in the West are generally free from litter and their streets are clean. What We Must Learn from the West

14. On the other hand, parks in the West are generally free from litter and their streets are clean. What We Must Learn from the West

15. On the other hand, parks in the West are generally free from litter and their streets are clean. What We Must Learn from the West

16. On the other hand, parks in the West are generally free from litter and their streets are clean. What We Must Learn from the West

17. On the other hand, parks in the West are generally free from litter and their streets are clean. What We Must Learn from the West

18. On the other hand, parks in the West are generally free from litter and their streets are clean. What We Must Learn from the West

19. On the other hand, parks in the West are generally free from litter and their streets are clean. What We Must Learn from the West

20. We are apathetic about community matters. We see serious problems around us but behave as if they are someone else’s responsibility. e.g. Drought in India What We Must Learn from the West

21. We are apathetic about community matters. We see serious problems around us but behave as if they are someone else’s responsibility. e.g. Drought in India What We Must Learn from the West

22. We are apathetic about community matters. We see serious problems around us but behave as if they are someone else’s responsibility. e.g. Drought in India What We Must Learn from the West

23. We are apathetic about community matters. We see serious problems around us but behave as if they are someone else’s responsibility. e.g. Drought in India What We Must Learn from the West

24. We are apathetic about community matters. We see serious problems around us but behave as if they are someone else’s responsibility. e.g. Drought in India What We Must Learn from the West

25. We are apathetic about community matters. We see serious problems around us but behave as if they are someone else’s responsibility. e.g. Drought in India What We Must Learn from the West

26. We are apathetic about community matters. We see serious problems around us but behave as if they are someone else’s responsibility. e.g. Drought in India What We Must Learn from the West

27. We are apathetic about community matters. We see serious problems around us but behave as if they are someone else’s responsibility. e.g. Drought in India What We Must Learn from the West

28. We are apathetic about community matters. We see serious problems around us but behave as if they are someone else’s responsibility. e.g. Drought in India What We Must Learn from the West

29. We are apathetic about community matters. We see serious problems around us but behave as if they are someone else’s responsibility. e.g. Drought in India What We Must Learn from the West

30. We are apathetic about community matters. We see serious problems around us but behave as if they are someone else’s responsibility. e.g. Drought in India What We Must Learn from the West

31. We are apathetic about community matters. We see serious problems around us but behave as if they are someone else’s responsibility. e.g. Drought in India What We Must Learn from the West

32. We are apathetic about community matters. We see serious problems around us but behave as if they are someone else’s responsibility. e.g. Drought in India What We Must Learn from the West More than thirty years ago, irrigation expert Dr. K. L. Rao suggested solving this problem by creating a water grid interlinking the Ganga and Cauvery and several other rivers. Unfortunately, nothing was done about this!

33. Other occasions when we were careless… What We Must Learn from the West In1983, the project of thermal power plant for the power shortage problem in Bangalore could not be done… Five years ago, because of the constant foreign travel required in his software industry, N. Murthy had suggested 240 passport facility for to eliminate the frequent visits to the passport office but he did not hear any answer from External Affair on this.

34. Narayan Murthy’s sarcastic questions • Why do we believe that solving problem is a responsibility of a foreign ruler and not ours? • Is this all because we were ruled by the foreigners for years? • Even our decision makers look to somebody else to take decision… What We Must Learn from the West

35. In the West What We Must Learn from the West People take responsibility to solve the societal problems.. They are responsible to their community They care for their society They make sacrifice for their society They solve societal problems proactively “Successful societies are those that harmoniously combine loyalty to family and loyalty to community”

36. 2. Acknowledging the Accomplishment of Others What We Must Learn from the West We are contemptuous… This attitude is nothing new.. The 11th century logician and traveller, Al Biruni referred to this trait of Indian. (He spent 20 years in India) If we want to progress, we must listen to and learn from people who have performed better than us…

37. Al Biruni What We Must Learn from the West Al-Biruni is regarded as one of the greatest scholars of the medieval Islamic era and was well versed in physics, mathematics, astronomy, and natural sciences, and also distinguished himself as a historian, chronologist and linguist. He was conversant in Khwarezmian, Persian, Arabic, Sanskrit, and also knew Greek, Hebrew and Syriac. He spent a large part of his life in Ghazni in modern-day Afghanistan, capital of the Ghaznavid dynasty which was based in what is now central-eastern Afghanistan. In 1017 he traveled to the Indian subcontinent and became the most important interpreter of Indian science to the Islamic world. He is given the titles the "founder of Indology". He was an impartial writer on custom and creeds of various nations, and was given the title al-Ustadh ("The Master") for his remarkable description of early 11th-century India. He also made contributions to Earth sciences, and is regarded as the "father of geodesy" for his important contributions to that field, along with his significant contributions to geography.

38. 3. Accountability What We Must Learn from the West We must learn Accountability from the West.. It means you are responsible for what you do, irrespective of your position… In India, the more ‘important’ you are, the less answerable your become…

39. 3. Accountability What We Must Learn from the West A senior politician once declared that, he ‘forgot’ to file his tax returns for ten consecutive years – and got away with it. There are over a hundred loss making public sector units belonging to central government, (NM says) I have not seen action taken place against top managers for bad performance in any of these organizations…

40. 4. Dignity of Labor What We Must Learn from the West Integral part of the West’s value system In India, we revere only intellectual work Fresh engineers, in India, want to do only cutting-edge work. They avoid doing the work of relevance to business and the Nation

41. 4. Dignity of Labor What We Must Learn from the West To get success, everyone – from CEO to the person who serves tea – must discharge his or her duties in a responsible manner. We, therefore, need a mindset that reveres everyone who puts in honest work, no matter what work it is.

42. 5. Professionalism What We Must Learn from the West In the West, people do not mix their personal relations with their professional dealings. They do not hesitate to chastise a colleague for incompetence, even if he is a friend. Indians tend to view even work interaction form personal perspective (point of view)

43. 5. Professionalism What We Must Learn from the West We are also the most thin-skinned society in the world – we see insults where none is meant We are not punctual in time. We do not respect other person’s time. Indian Standard Time always runs late, and deadlines are not met.

44. 6. Intellectual Independence What We Must Learn from the West Western parents teach their children to think for themselves from the time they are very young. So, these children grow up to be strong, confident adults. Indians suffer from feudal thinking. (this means) in India (even clever people) cannot think independently.

45. 6. Intellectual Independence What We Must Learn from the West Even bright people prefer to be told what to do by their bosses. We need to overcome this attitude if we are to succeed globally.

46. 7. Honoring Contracts What We Must Learn from the West Western value system teaches us to respect for contractual obligation Example of Indian Students whom N. Murthy had recommended to American University for higher studies for National Scholarship on a contract to spend five years in India after getting their degrees but most of them did not turn back.

47. 7. Honoring Contracts What We Must Learn from the West Right and Duty – the two sides of a same coin. “ A people that values its privileges above its principles soon loses both”

48. N Murthy thinks What We Must Learn from the West “We are living in the past. No other society gloats so much about the past as we do, with as little current accomplishment.” - N.R. NARAYANA MURTHY

49. Thank you What We Must Learn from the West Imran Khan M.A., M.Phil., B.Ed. in English Asst. Prof. in English Om Engineering College, Junagadh. www.imkeng.wordpress.com