hidden image

Nation-building is not done by Greedy Corporates

M L Satyan M L Satyan
20 Jan 2025

Today, two industrialists have become the talk of social media, both in India and abroad. One person is Mr NR Narayana Murthy of Infosys and the other person is Mr SN Subrahmanyan of Larsen & Toubro (L&T).

Weeks after Infosys co-founder Narayana Murthy promoted 70 hours of work week that irked people, now 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 a 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 industrialists not aware of the work-life culture promoted in developed countries? Recently, Tokyo decided to introduce a four-day workweek in 2025 as part of Japan's 'work-style reform.'

Interestingly, L&T has defended its chairman's statement: "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."

At this stage, a spontaneous question arises: 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 per cent of wealth is accumulated by 10 per cent of rich people. The remaining 20 to 30 per cent is distributed among other categories of people. The unequal distribution of wealth is one of the major causes of poverty.

Does this mean rich people do more work and poor people do less? Not at all! The rich people suck the labour from the poor people in order to earn more money for themselves. The poor labourers in the unorganised sector and the employees in the organised sector are not paid for their work.

The system ensures that top management or employers always get the bigger piece of the cake. Labourers and employees are often deprived of equal opportunities to work and earn.

To me, these two industrialists are greedy to the core. Needs can always 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 deathbed. When he realised 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 plans for my future.
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.

Let's 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 manage, pon seyyium marundhu," which means, "A contented mind is like a gold-yielding medicine."

Recent Posts

The BJP's push to drop 'secular' from the Constitution is part of a deeper effort to reshape India's democratic identity. Behind the verbiage lies a long-standing ambition to replace constitutional va
apicture Jacob Peenikaparambil
14 Jul 2025
As history is reshaped to fit a narrow political script in a very Nazi fashion, the roles of Dalits, Muslims, and Christians in building modern India are being quietly erased.
apicture Fr Soroj Mullick, SDB
14 Jul 2025
The Supreme Court questioned the legality and timing of the Election Commission's Special Intensive Revision of Bihar's voters' list. Concerns were raised over arbitrary procedures, lack of safeguards
apicture Joseph Maliakan
14 Jul 2025
Education is evolving, driven by passionate educators like Fr Gabriel Coutinho, who champion innovative, child-centric methods. Workshops like EXPERIMATH are indicative of the shift towards hands-on l
apicture Pachu Menon
14 Jul 2025
A Microsoft employee, after 25 years of service, discovers that he has been laid off without warning. The job that he had been holding onto for the last 25 years is no longer there, speaking aloud tha
apicture Jaswant Kaur
14 Jul 2025
Although intimations of Air India's precipitate decline have been doing the rounds for quite some time, we have been diehard clientele of the airline, certainly not for love or Atma nirbhar considerat
apicture Mathew John & Annie Mathew
14 Jul 2025
Amid rising inequality and neglect, Indian workers face rights that evade them, precarious jobs, and unsafe conditions. Strikes, stalled reforms, AI-driven gig work, and apathetic climate expose the d
apicture Jose Vattakuzhy
14 Jul 2025
Make your reels, dance your dances, speak your truth. But also, seek something deeper. Let your greatest influence be not your wardrobe or your views, but the stillness in your spirit, the peace in yo
apicture Robert Clements
14 Jul 2025
In a world scarred by war, hatred, and inhuman leadership, education must humanise, not merely inform. Sanjeevani Vidyapeeth shows how empowering the marginalised with values, character, and competenc
apicture Jacob Peenikaparambil
07 Jul 2025
The sinking of MSC ELSA 3 off Kerala's coast exposes a toxic mix of corporate impunity, political complicity, and environmental neglect. As hazardous cargo threatens lives and livelihoods, the silence
apicture Joseph Maliakan
07 Jul 2025