Making of N.R Narayana Murthy

N.R.Narayana Murthy (NRN), one of the founders of IT giant Infosys, has published a book A Better India: A Better World. NRN claims that he never wanted to write a book because books contain intentions of author where as he is always interested in the results generated by the intentions. In other words, he is a doer. However he finally penned the book at the instance of his son. The book contains interesting anecdotes and insights into one of the most successful entrepreneurial minds of our times.

Like most young men of every post independent generation in India, NRN was always wondered on why there exists such a inequality in India: poor and rich, urban and rural India and ruling class and ruled. In fact the book recollects a 21-hour long train travel spent by NRN in Europe in early 1970's in answering those questions. At that time he came across three books that he says shaped his personality and inspired him to take the path of entrepreneurship. The books and the lessons he picked from them are as follows.

1. My Experiments with Truth by Gandhi:
Lesson Learnt :Leadership by Example

2. The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism by Max Weber
Lesson Learnt: Decent and hardworking people have succeeded against all odds everywhere in the world.

3. Black Skin, White Masks by Franz Fanon
Lesson Learnt: Ruling class and Ruled have different rights and responsibility with a huge asymmetry in favour of rulers

NRN calls them three pieces in his development puzzle. Once he assembled them, he started his entrepreneurial experiments and the rest is history