FTN: Murthy, Sachin on backfoot

MISSING LINK: Experts say there is a fundamental disconnect between India and some public figures.

          

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Keywords: Cake, Sachin Tendulkar

Fallout of globalisation

Murthy’s decision to side with visiting dignitaries raises a vital question – is this in some way the face of globalisation?

Infosys is our flagship-globalised company and in order to globalise, one has to perhaps compromise a little on national identity and play down the nationalism.

“I am unhappy with Narayana Murthy because he speaks only for the English medium and he is a cosmopolite. He is a great achiever and we admire him, but we differ from him,” Ananthamurthy said.

He added that Murthy should be grateful to the Karnataka government and to India because he owed his success to the two entities. Ananthamurthy blamed Murthy of having no sympathy with the Nehruvian kind of socialism that created the infrastructure necessary for people like him to flourish. So, there is something wrong with the corporate culture.

Ananthamurthy went on to say, “I don’t think he really meant it but because he belongs to a corporate culture, the globalising world, he does not have enough respect for mass movement, the people of Karnataka and the languages of India.”

Meanwhile, taking a dig at Murthy, Jain said, “I think more than the wrong word, he has used the wrong concept. It is only in India that we find the corporate elite trying to subordinate nationalism, national icons and culture to please an imagined global audience. There was no need to disrespect the National Flag or the Anthem to have an international standing, which he thinks he is going to acquire by these means.”

Ananthamurthy, however, had a softer stance on the argument, “There is a category of people like Murthy, who are very successful, humane, compassionate but disconnected in some fundamental level with India.”

But then, isn’t it way too sensitive of us to judge them? After all, a mature nation state can surely deal with a situation like this. Jain begged to disagree, “A mature nation state does not disrespect the symbols of its nationhood. We should not be mocking the symbols for which we are supposed to stand and for which people lay down their lives.”

She added that Sachin Tendulkar should not have cut cake, which looked like a tri-coloured flag. In fact, it should have been ensured that at least the charkas were not there.

The true patriot

Who is then a greater patriot? Was it someone like Narayana Murthy or Sachin Tendulkar who prove their sentiments through actions or is it someone who displays the tricolour of Indian nationhood?

While Ananthamurthy claimed it was “neither of them, it is the people of India”, Jain said, “It is the person who dies for India. The country has had many achievers and they have all done India proud in various respects. India has given it certain privileges, love and respect to people like Murthy and Sachin and it has gone to their head and created the so-called disconnect.”

Final results of the question of the day poll: Are we oversensitive about the national anthem?

65 per cent – Yes

35 per cent – No