Narayana Murthy talks about Donald Trump

Well, you know, who am I to give him any message? After all, he is the person elected as the most powerful nation. Having said that, I would just say that it will be a great idea for President-elect Trump to realize that as the leader of the most powerful nation, he has to take leadership in creating a harmonious, friction-free, sustainable, and happy world, happy planet. I think that is an idea in which he has a very important role to play, and if he does that, I was feeling that after his presidency is over, he'll be much happier than he would be otherwise.

Well, you know, I mean, the world goes through cycles of leftism, liberalism, and conservatism, and that's normal. It always happens. So therefore, this is a time when people have started getting a little bit concerned about liberalism and leftism, and therefore some of the people in certain parts of the world are trying to move away from liberalism to the right, reactionary attitudes. But it is the responsibility of global leaders to tell them, to address them, and give them a view of life, a view of the world that gives them hope, that gives them confidence that tomorrow will be better. So therefore, what is needed today is for the leaders of other parties in France and elsewhere to paint a very positive, hopeful, and confident future of France and the world, and then I think people will be more confident.

Who am I? I am a foreigner, so who am I to express any opinion? They have spoken. The people of Great Britain have spoken, and I think it is now the responsibility of Prime Minister Theresa May to implement it. And I have no doubt at all that, like everything else, the British people will do a good job of it. I have no doubt about it. And in the end, I think everybody will be happy. Every British person will be happy that whatever decision was taken by the British people was executed well by Prime Minister May, and perhaps of success, because Britain has always thought of wealth and done good things, so this too will be one such thing.

Well, I think there is an opportunity for India and Britain to come closer, particularly in trade, because of Brexit. And we were very fortunate to have Prime Minister Theresa May visit India recently, and our Prime Minister is very, very happy. Our political leaders were all very happy. You know, some of us, the trade leaders, met her, and we are all very, very happy to hear her view. And I think it will bring India and UK closer. And you know, we have a common history, so therefore it is much easier for Britain and India to come very close compared to many other nations.

Well, I think there are a few things we can contribute to the world. First of all, contentment is the hallmark of an Indian mind. Being contented with whatever God has given you, being happy in the circumstances that you are, and at the same time making effort constantly to improve yourself. That is, today you're content, but while being content, you work hard to make tomorrow better. A lot of people in the world, they are unhappy with what they are, and therefore they are not in a position to work hard to create a better tomorrow. I think that is the trick of India. We have been told for 4,000 plus years that you should have contentment with where you are today and work hard so that you can get to a better place tomorrow. That's one. Second, I think family is a very, very important unit in India. Sacrifice by parents, brothers, sisters to bring up other members of the family. We look after our grandparents. You know very well, when our parents become old, we make sure they are with us. We look after them. I think that's another very good philosophy because we say, look, when they were in good health, they looked after us. Now it is our responsibility to make sure that their old age is comfortable. We have to show our gratitude to them. So therefore, that sense of gratitude is ingrained in the Indian mind. And finally, the Indian philosophy of do whatever you're supposed to do without worrying too much about the result. That's what the Gita, one of the epics of India, says. That is, do whatever is necessary. Don't worry about the result because you're not in control of the result, but you can do whatever is necessary to be done properly.

Well, thank you very much. Thank you.