Narayanmurthy: Just the right person at the right time?
In discussing about my post on boilerplate arguments by role models, someone mentioned to me that he agreed with me when I said Mr. Narayanamurthy was just there at the right time to take advantage of the overall IT boom.
There is no question that Narayanmurthy was there at the right time; if not, he would not have co-founded one of the most successful Indian IT companies, Infosys. That part is clear. But I have serious reservations with the word (and emphasis) on “just”. Yes, Narayanmurthy was there at the right time; so were half a million others. He was the one who founded Infy, not the 499,999 others. At no point does my previous post state or imply that Narayanamurthy’s accomplishment were any lesser than they are. (If my post reads so, it is a problem with my writing.)
Who knows if Mr. Murthy was born a decade earlier or later, where would he be. You cannot just take a person out of the context in which he/she is/was successful and predict how he/she would have done. For all you know, he would have been even more successful.
He is a great role model and there are a lot of traits that need to be emulated. If even a fraction of a percent of India’s population could learn and inculcate some of his qualities, we will be a better place. I do not look up to him as my role model for various reasons stated on this blog earlier. That does not make either him or me lesser of a person. Nor does it mean I don’t respect him or that there aren’t things that I can learn from him. But given a choice, I would not want to be in his shoes. But given a choice to be in his shoes, I would not take it.
[Perhaps I am using a stronger definition of a role model: someone whom you aspire to be like, not just emulate some of his/her qualities.]
Ho Ho ! back to Murthy. Get over it. The latest fad by Nanopolitan is abolishing the JEE, because it helps coaching centers, and because board exams are a better predictor of ability than JEE. Jump on the current bandwagon Man, where are you?
Did you even read the post?
I get flak for criticizing Narayanamurthy; I get flak for praising Narayanamurthy. From the same set of people!
The post clearly says that his success was NOT just about being at the right place at the right time.
What part of “even a fraction of a percent of India’s population could learn and inculcate some of his qualities, we will be a better place” could you not understand?
Niket, you remain an ass. The person who did not read comments was you.
Obviously you want to allude to those parts of your post where you want to make up for the bullshit you wrote earlier. Sorry, no bananas. You wrote stupid comments, were called out on that, and you again write bullshit. I am not buying it, and therefore my advice to discuss something that you may be better positioned to comment on. As an IIT faculty, comment on JEE scrapping. Write about your experience on dealing with IIT system after coming back from US. Write about the current students. Write how (and if) increased reservation changed your teaching experience. Your readers care two hoots about your opinions on subjects about which you know nothing. And if you don’t care about your readers, why blog?
Perhaps true that I wrote this post to make up for previous bullshit. I wrote this one because an ex-student told me that he agreed with me that Narayanamurthy was just there at the right time. If one person felt that way, there might be others as well. I never said or implied that.
My world isn’t black-and-white. So, I can very well appreciate some aspects of a person while being critical of other aspects. Some people do not get this.
What I write on my blog is my prerogative. I do not necessarily write about things that matter to me or anyone.
Your comments about IIT system, student, etc. are well taken. One of the problems is that these issues are close to my heart. If someone like you thinks I am a jerk because of this post, I just wouldn’t think beyond a short response; with respect to students, teaching, research… I am just too emotionally attached.
Coming to JEE scrapping: it will not do shit. The problem is not with JEE. The problem is with lack of enough opportunities. Its like there is a bone sticking out of your body and we are discussing whether to use Iodex or Wintogeno.
Thanks for response. Appreciate it. Also your response on JEE.
Yes, please write on whatever you choose to. Including recipes - THAT was good. I was wrong in preaching.
Why is it that I care about your or Abhi’s writeups about Murthy? I am not an Infoscion. Yet, I was fortunate to spend a lot of time with Murthy while doing some research. Niket, the man is great. He is humble. Yet, he is not a fool. The writeups are merely sounding like sour grapes. Abhi is negatively disposed towards Infosys (because they did not give him the prize? Huh! I KNOW his research, it is second grade at best, anyway..), and was called out not only be me but by many others. I have stopped going to his site, George Mankiw is better for economics.