Narayana Murthy, co-founder of Infosys, took to the stage at the Kalichand Memorial Conference in Mumbai to share his personal journey and vision of ‘compassionate capitalism’.
Reflecting on his life, Murthy recounted a pivotal moment in 1974: a lonely, hungry and cold 21-hour journey on a freight train from Nis (now Serbia) to Istanbul during his hitchhiking journey from returned to India after working in Paris.
“The issue of poverty and inequality in our country has concerned me since the day I spent 21 hours alone, hungry, cold, angry and introspective in the freight compartment of a freight train from Nis, today in Serbia, in Istanbul, in 1974, during my hitchhiking trip, returning to India after my work in Paris,” Narayan Murthy said in his speech.
Murthy cited his own life and work as proof of how entrepreneurship can fight poverty. “I have successfully demonstrated the power of entrepreneurship in solving the problem of poverty through my experience of establishing Infosys,” he said.
However, his optimism is tempered by the challenges that remain. “There is not a single day that I do not feel confused, helpless, agitated and motivated that our leaders will find a solution to this problem.”
Murthy has long spoken about the role of discipline and hard work in driving societal change. “My parents told me that the only way for me to escape the orbit of poverty was to be honest, disciplined and have a good work ethic,” he shared.
He emphasized that placing community interests ahead of personal gains ultimately leads to self-improvement.
Murthy recently sparked controversy by suggesting that India’s youth commit to working longer, taking inspiration from post-war Japan and Germany. “With a per capita income of $2,300, India is a poor country. To become a middle-income country, it will take 16 to 18 years, even with a growth rate of 8 percent,” he said, arguing for a return to the six-day work week to improve productivity.
Born in 1946 in Sidlaghatta, Karnataka, Murthy’s rise began with degrees in electrical engineering from NIE Mysore and IIT Kanpur. Rejecting lucrative jobs, he became a chief systems programmer at IIM Ahmedabad, working on India’s first time-sharing computer system under Professor J. Krishnayya. In 1981, he co-founded Infosys, a company that would revolutionize the Indian technology industry and contribute significantly to its economic growth.
