When Narayana Murthy learnt lesson in compassionate capitalism from Ratan Tata

Infosys founder NR Narayana Murthy on Thursday shared a profound lesson he learnt about compassionate capitalism from Tata Sons chairman emeritus Ratan Tata, who died at the age of 86 at Mumbai’s Breach Candy Hospital.
While speaking to India Today TV, Narayana Murthy recounted a moment when he invited Ratan Tata to inaugurate the Akshaya Patra kitchen, a philanthropic initiative funded by the former’s wife Sudha Murthy.
The event, Infosys founder said, was Ratan Tata’s first public engagement after retiring from Tata Sons.
“I once invited him (Ratan Tata) to inaugurate the Akshaya Patra kitchen, which was funded by my wife Sudha. He came to Karnataka’s Hubli, stayed there for two, two and a half days and he participated in every function,” Narayana Murthy said.
Further in his conversation, the Infosys founder also revealed that during his stay in Hubli, Ratan Tata fully immersed himself in the celebrations and interacted with everyone, including youngsters.
“He interacted with everyone — youngsters, elders, the rich and the not-so-rich, bureaucrats, and ministers alike,” Narayana Murthy said.
“So, that was a lesson for me in humility, a lesson in compassionate capitalism, a lesson in how Mikey can indeed have a part of his heart reserved for the not-so fortunate ones,” he added.
Recalling another similar incident, Murthy said he invited Ratan Tata to Delhi about 12 or 13 years ago while he served as the Chairman of the Asia Business Council. The event brought together CEOs from some of the largest companies in Asia, the US, and Europe, where Murthy had arranged meetings with the Prime Minister. He wanted Tata to host the dinner and deliver a speech.
“He came all the way from Bombay (now Mumbai). He stayed for about 45 minutes and hosted an excellent dinner. However, he was quite reticent to speak. He said, ‘Murthy, please don’t force me to speak’. While he was absolutely courteous and took care of all the guests with so much affection, admiration and respect, he didn’t speak,” Murthy said.
The final rites of the renowned industrialist and philanthropist were performed with full state honours at a central Mumbai crematorium on Thursday evening. The Mumbai police paid tribute to Tata with a gun salute.