Thursday, January 30, 2020

NRN & Infosys Days - Simplicity & Humility

Nov 2004. Infosys Campus , Mysore.
   It was a normal day like any other day. I was in my hostel room inside the campus chatting with friends.
    Then around late evening felt like having an early dinner ( our classes use to start quite early ) .As I entered the canteen and ordered for a south indian thali ( mostly it was either thali or paratha or just Maggi for me as options were limited ) , I sat down on a vacant table.



    Suddenly I saw an aged person wearing pure white kurta and pyjama walking in , ordered food and sat down at a distance.
   I was awestuck.Time has slackened it's pace for me.
    The man was NRN. That's how we lovingly called NR Narayana Murthy.Founder of Infosys.
   I couldn't eat properly.I was soo much gripped by that great man's simplicity.
   I mean , come on , you are the CEO of Infosys and you just walkin , smile at all and have your meal .I mean ,How !!!
   I was soo much dazzled , my heartbeat going hayward.
    Here sits the man who had been my idol , Here is the man for whom I left my departmental mech engg job just to learn from him , and he is having a dosa in front of me !!!
  OMG!
    He quickly finished his dinner and quitely walked back to the guesthouse.No one took selfie with him , 2004 was not selfie era.
   The very next day NRN addressed us all.
     Those were the time when even freshers like us had the independence to ask questions and tough questions.
  Someone asked  " Sir , it is said that you ruined Patni computers .Is it true ? " .
  NRN didn't lost his cool.There wasn't an iota of anger in his voice.
    Even after 16 odd years , I still remember what he said.
   But that's will be a different post altogether.
    Today , when I see NRN touching the feet of Ratan Tata , that simplicity and humility which I saw 16 years before , echoed infront of my eye.
    To everyone who does want to create a difference in others lives ( including me ) , let's start with humility.
    All other things will eventually fall in place.