Greedy corporates help no nation building

By M L Satyan

Coimbatore, Jan 17, 2025: Two industrialists have become the talk among the social media, both in India and in abroad. One person is N R Narayana Murthy of Infosys and the other is S N Subrahmanyan of Larsen & Toubro (L&T).

Months after Infosys co-founder Narayana Murthy promoted 70 hours of work week that irked people, L&T chairman Subrahmanyan has stirred up a new controversy with his 90-hour work week remark. Not just this, Subrahmanyan also suggested that people should work on Sundays too.

They are widely and strongly criticised for their promotion of 70 to 90-hour work culture.

Remember that both these persons are very rich and have accumulated sufficient wealth for themselves and their families. They lead a royal life. Are these two not aware of the work-life culture promoted in the developed countries? Recently Tokyo has decided to introduce 4-day work week this year as part of Japan’s ‘work-style reform’.

Interestingly, the L&T has defended the statement of its chairman by saying, “At L&T, nation-building is at the core of our mandate. For over eight decades, we have been shaping India’s infrastructure, industries, and technological capabilities. The chairman’s remarks reflect this larger ambition, emphasising that extraordinary outcomes require extraordinary effort.”

A spontaneous question is raised at this stage: Is nation-building done by destroying the lives and families of the employees/labourers? It is a known fact that there is already a wide gap between the rich and poor in India. Sadly, the rich people become richer and the poor people become poorer.

Today in India 70 to 80 percent of the wealth is accumulated by 10 percent rich people. The remaining 20 to 30 percent wealth is distributed among other categories of people. Unequal distribution of wealth is one of the major causes for poverty.

Does this mean that the rich people do more work and the poor people do less work? Not at all! The rich people suck the labor from the poor people in order to earn more money for themselves. The poor laborers in the unorganized sector and the employees in the organized sector do not get paid for the work they do.

The system is such that it is always the top management or the employers who get the bigger piece of the cake. The labourers and the employees are often deprived of equal opportunities to work and earn.

To me, these two industrialists are greedy to the core. Needs always can be met. But greed can never be met. These two corporate persons are indirectly saying, “We are already rich. Make us richer by putting in your extra labour for 70 to 90 hours a week.”

I wish to quote a relevant anecdote. A man was on his death bed. When he realized it, he saw God coming closer with a suitcase in his hand. A dialogue takes place between God and man. In the place of the man, I wish to place the Chairman of L&T.

God: Alright son, it is time to go!

Chairman: So soon? I have many future plans for my life.

God: I am sorry, but it is time to go.

Chairman: What do you have in that suitcase?

God: Your belongings.

Chairman: My belongings? Do you mean my things, clothes and money?

God: Those things were never yours. They belong to the earth.

Chairman: Are these my memories?

God: No. They belong to time.

Chairman: Are these my talents?

God: No. They belong to circumstance.

Chairman: Are these my friends?

God: No son. They belong to the path you travelled.

Chairman: Are they my wife, children and relatives?

God: No. they belong to your heart.

Chairman: Then, it must be my body.

God: No. It belongs to dust.

Chairman: Then, surely it must be my soul.

God: You are sadly mistaken son. Your soul belongs to me.

Filled with fear, the chairman took the suitcase from God’s hand and opened it. It was empty. He was heartbroken and tears rolled down his cheeks. With great hesitation he asked God.

Chairman: Does this mean that I never owned anything?

God: That’s right. You never owned anything.

Chairman: Then, what was mine?

God: Your MOMENTS. Every moment you spent with your wife, children, relatives and friends was yours. Life is just a moment.

Chairman: I really regret now for being a workaholic, for advocating more working hours, for being greedy to earn more money and for neglecting my family.

The Bhagavad Gita tells us:

“What have you lost that you cry for?
What did you bring that you have lost?
What did you create that was destroyed?
What you have taken has been from here.
What you gave has been given here.
What belongs to you today belonged to someone yesterday
and will belong to someone else tomorrow.”

Every human being comes into this world empty-handed and will go from this world empty-handed. This is the TRUTH. When we were not allowed to bring anything to this world at the time of birth, we are also not permitted to take anything from this world at the time of death.

So, let us try to live this momentary life meaningfully. Let us do honest work, be content with what we have and be happy with our family and friends. In Tamil there is a proverb: “Podhumendra maname, pon seyyium marundhu” which means “A contented mind is like a gold-yielding medicine.”