Anthem goofup hits NRNM's image
By Murli

Narayana Murthy should know that he is on watch, 24/7/365, and cannot afford to make mistakes permitted to People Like Us. Perhaps, for all his achievements, he is still One of Us. Perhaps that’s why he goofed up and said what he said.

A hugely popular President with a highly popular, hypothetical Presidential candidate. It was a perfect setting for a media event. It got the attention all right, but for all the wrong reasons. Taking the President Dr Abdul Kalam around the world class Infosys campus in Mysore, the iconic Narayana Murthy must have felt a quiet pride swell in his heart.

A day later, all hell broke loose. Because apparently, Murthy did not take pride in the singing of the national anthem. And because of his laid back stance on the Cauvery issue.

Two innocuous comments was all it took for the world to come tumbling down on India's most celebrated IT icon. In a rare show of unanimity, politicians of Karnataka came down hard on him like a ton of bricks, slamming him for his remarks, and warming up for a more ugly spat in the days to come. Already they are threatening to throw the law book at him.

There is also some talk of arresting him. Chew on that for a moment, and you will realize the kind of action that awaits us this week…

What happened was this. During President Kalam's visit to the company's Mysore campus, the President got to hear the instrumental version of the anthem, rather than have someone sing it. When someone asked Murthy why, he replied, "We had arranged for five people to sing the anthem, but then we cancelled it as we have foreigners on board here. They should not be embarrassed while we sing the anthem." And then, the dam burst.  Insult! Traitor! Shameful! The epithets mirroring perceived slights, hate, and worse, burst forth across the board - politicians, commentators, TV analysts, students, home makers, et al cried foul, prompting the ever genial and gentlemanly Murthy to say sorry.

Murthy clarified, ""If the media statement has hurt anybody's sentiments, I deeply apologize. We played the instrumental version of the national anthem so that we could all sing along, and all of us did so. We wished to share the pride of being an Indian in the gracious presence of our President...We are a proud Indian company, with strong universal ethos of transparency, accountability and honesty. It has always been our endeavor to represent India with the highest standards of respect and enable it to take its rightful place in the world economy."

But the deed was done, and his other remark on the Cauvery issue only ended up stoking the cauldron further.

On his company functioning behind closed doors during the bandh called over the Cauvery dispute, Murthy remarked, rather testily: "Closing down offices is no solution. If we do that, the state will not only lose Cauvery water, but also the revenue for the day. Everything has to happen in Delhi. Get clear data and draft the action plan there".

Well, it was like waving a red rag at a pitbull. The pro-Kannada organizations led by Kannada Chaluvali veteran, Vatal Nagaraj got sucked into the issue and launched a scathing counter attack on him.

Clearly, Narayana Murthy could have done without this controversy - especially at a time when he is being projected as the next best President to occupy the Rashtrapati Bhavan, after Dr Abdul Kalam. Murthy has chosen to be mum about his candidacy, but that is beside the point. Even before anything concrete could emerge about his candidacy, he has unwittingly jumped the gun, and perhaps foreclosed the debate.