Billionaires are in every part of the world, rarely do they fly economy seated next to you
Middle class and billionaire don’t go in the same sentence.
For Narayana Murthy who built gigantic Infosys in India — it does. He has stuck to his middle-class roots along with his wife even after being one of India’s richest men.
Here is a recent example from a guy on a plane.
Manyak was on a plane from the southern city of Bangalore to the commercial capital of India, Mumbai. He did his usual ritual — docked his hand luggage on the overhead bin and took his aisle seat. A few minutes later, he scanned the space. An elderly gentleman was at the window seat.
He did his next routine after take-off — worked on his presentation, gave it final touches, closed his laptop within 15 minutes flat, and started staring through the window.
The contour of the elderly gentleman caught his attention — he looked like someone he has seen somewhere before.
In Manyak words, “He was old, his face, the suit was not very expensive, and he was replying to some mails or going through some documents. I exactly don’t know. I noticed his shoes, they were average quality.”
Suddenly, a light bulb went off. Manyak asked him, “Are you Mr. Narayana Murthy?”
The elderly gentleman turned around and looked at him, smiled, and replied, “Yes, I am.”
Manyak could not believe the situation. The guy sitting next to him — his shoes, his suit, his tie, and his specs. Everything was average. This guy was worth $3 Billion and co-founded Infosys.
And they were both seated in economy class!
Manyak blurted out “Why are you traveling in economy class?”
Narayana Murthy replied in classic Narayana Murthy style:
“Do business class people reach early?”
That sums up Narayana Murthy for you. The only time I can recall him talk about wealth was when it came to his children’s education. He once mentioned that Standford was the backup in case his children did not get into the ultra-tough, Indian Institute of Technology (IITs for short.) Even then, it was a classic Indian middle-class mindset —good education above all else.
Manyak and Murthy had a great back and forth conversation. And Manyak asked a question that few of us have luck knowing answers to.
“Sir, You are so successful and have made so many good decisions in your life. Is there something you regret?”
Murthy went into deep thought, took his time, and answered,
“Sometimes my knee hurts, I should have taken better care of my body. When I was young I was so busy working that I never got time to take care of myself and now even if I want to work more, I can’t. My body doesn’t permit.”
“You are young. You are smart & ambitious — don’t repeat my mistake. Take proper care of your body & take proper rest. This is the only body you have got!”
In that answer, Murthy redefined what richness in life truly means.
Many older folks may have given almost the same answer. But when you give it after you have achieved what a lot of youngsters aspire in their life — it resonates better.
In order to do that, you need to mingle with them. Economy class is one way to go.
Narayana Murthy is doing yeoman service by organically mingling with the crowd — one person at a time, during the shared time.
Humbly, brilliant legacy.
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| One of the best quote I had read in last week |
Until next time!
Gaurav!
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