A Narayana Murthy-Orry chat on 70-hour work week? Harsh Goenka makes the pitch

Harsh Goenka shared photos of Narayana Murthy and Orry and called for a dialogue. (Images: @hvgoenka/X)

RPG Enterprises Chairman Harsh Goenka has thrown down the gauntlet, seeking a dialogue between Infosys founder NR Narayana Murthy and Bollywood BFF Orhan 'Orry' Awatramani on the contentious issue of a 70-hour workweek that the former said was essential for the youth and country to progress.

In a recent tweet, Goenka called for a conversation between Murthy and Orry, over a 70-hour work week. Orry, whose job is an enigma, has several times said that he is "liver" (because he lives) and he works - but on himself.

Goenka tweeted with a split image of the two saying: “Can someone please organize a conversation between Narayana Murthy and Orry on the need of a 70 hour working week!”

Can someone please organize a conversation between Narayana Murthy and Orry on the need of a 70 hour working week!  pic.twitter.com/9svQvvYO9s

— Harsh Goenka (@hvgoenka) December 12, 2023

“My request is that our youngsters must say, ‘This is my country. I’d like to work 70 hours a week,’” Murthy had said.

“You know, this is exactly what the Germans and Japanese did after the Second World War… they made sure that every German worked extra hours for a certain number of years.”

Murthy, defending his stance in a subsequent interview, reminisced about his own work hours during the early days of Infosys.

"I used to be in the office at 6:20 am and leave office at 8:30 pm and worked six days a week. I know every nation that became prosperous did so through hard work," Murthy had told The Economic Times.

Murthy further revealed that during his four-decade professional career, he worked 70 hours every week and until 1994, worked for 85-90 hours every week since Infosys functioned six days a week during that time span.

While some applaud his dedication, others argue that the landscape of work has evolved, and it is time to redefine success beyond sheer hours spent in the office. And Goenka, too, held a similar view.

He contended that ambition, purpose, and productivity are the new yardsticks.

"It's no longer about working 50 or 70 hours, but about your own ambition, your purpose, and your productivity," he wrote in a tweet at a time when the Murthy’s comments had ignited a firestorm on social media.

He had added: “The 5-day office week is dead. Hybrid work is the present and the future. It's all about blending office and remote work to suit your needs.”

Coming to Orry, whose claim to fame is being a constant fixture with stars and star kids in Bollywood, had in a recent, viral interview, said that he distinguishes himself as someone who is not just working but living.

On being asked about his job, he clarified that he worked hard on himself. “I am working on myself. I am going to the gym, I am doing a lot of self-reflection, sometimes I do yoga, I go for a massage, I am working, but I am working on myself,” he said.

He also called himself a “liver” because he is living and wore a t-shirt saying the same during his 3-day stint in TV reality show “Bigg Boss”.

“You go for a job, you are a jobber. You paint, you are a painter. I am living, I am a liver. Yeah, I am a liver,” he has said in several of his interviews and appearances.

Also read: Narayana Murthy's 70-hour workweek advice gets TV Mohandas Pai's backing with data

Comments on Harsh Goenka's new viral tweet were as humorous as his daring proposition.

“One is a worker, the other one is just a 'Liver'. It'd be interesting to see conversation between them," one user wrote. "But before that one needs to make both agree to a common definition of what we term as "WORK". That itself might be a deal-breaker," wrote another.

While a third supported Murthy and said, "Please don't insult Narayana Murthy sir" another wrote: "Narayana Murthy missed out on so many things in life."

A fifth joked: "Orry works on himself more than 70 hours."