Narayana Murthy opens Penguin bookstore in Bangalore

Infosys Technologies Ltd chairman and chief mentor N.R. Narayana Murthy and his wife Sudha Murthy late Tuesday, August 3, inspired hundreds of book lovers by opening PageTurners, an exclusive Penguin bookstore in the heart of Bangalore.

'Reading and preserving books are an essential part of our culture. In this technology era, we should encourage the younger generation to cultivate the habit of reading books and imbibe the spirit behind the art of writing,' Murthy said after unveiling the 2,500 square feet retail store spanning four floors on upscale M.G. Road.

Penguin Books India collaborated with Surya Infotainment Products of the country's oldest booksellers LB Publishers & Distributors to set up one of the largest bookstores in the city, with books on varied subjects from the world over.

Lauding Penguin and Surya for the joint initiative, Murthy advised the partners to open more such bookstores across the country to ensure that reading books became an integral part of learning.

'An exclusive space for our books was only possible till now at book fairs. If we put all our books under one roof, it becomes a destination,' Penguin India marketing vice-president Hemali Sodhi said on the occasion.

Full report here Sify

Digital memory

As Prabhu, a 12th-century mystic, says in a Kannada vachana, it is sometimes strange to see a connection between two disparate things or happenings, but it can, nevertheless, be a reality. Similarly, it may be difficult to associate N.R. Narayana Murthy, an eminent technologist, with a project on Indian classical literature at Harvard University, but it is, indeed, a reality. So much of a reality, in fact, that this project might just, in the time to come, overshadow the legacy Narayana Murthy has left behind at Infosys.

Less than a fortnight ago, Harvard University announced that the ‘Murthy family of Bangalore’ had established a new publication series called the Murthy Classical Library Series (MCLI) with a generous gift of $5.2 million. It also announced that renowned scholar Sheldon Pollock, who is currently Ransford Professor of Sanskrit and Indian studies at Columbia University, had been named the general editor of the volumes.

Although there have been many such classical series published by various institutions, including Harvard itself, like the Loeb Classical Library or the Clay Sanskrit Library, or the earliest of all—Max Mueller’s 50-volume Sacred Books of the East series, what sets this exercise apart is that it makes a significant departure from the Orientalist project of the last couple of centuries, by aiming to look beyond Sanskrit and religion, and dipping into India’s multilingual literary heritage. In other words, the Murthy series seeks to broaden the idea of India. It promises to be pluralistic and inclusive.

Full report here Outlook

Murthys gift Harvard $5.2 mn to publish classics

N R Narayana Murthy, Chief Mentor of Infosys Technologies, and his family have donated $5.2 million to Harvard University and Harvard University Press to establish a new publication series called The Murty Classical Library of India.

The endowed dual-language series will feature contemporary English versions of works originally composed in classical languages such as Sanskrit, Persian and Urdu, as well as literature from Tamil, Bengali, Kannada, Punjabi and other Indian languages.

“I am happy that Harvard University Press is anchoring this publishing project,” said Murthy. His wife, Sudha, said, “We are happy to participate in this exciting project of taking the rich literary heritage of India to far corners of the world.”

Full report here Indian Express

Amartya Sen's book next for Allen Lane

Allen Lane, which is currently Penguin India's top imprint for non fiction books, saw its second release in the form of NR Narayana Murthy's A Better India, A Better World on April 20 in Delhi.
The next book to be released by Allen Lane India will be Amartya Sen's book, which will be launched in August.
Other Indian authors who are lined up to be published in the Allen Lane include Meghnad Desai, APJ Abdul Kalam, Gurcharan Das and Pavan K Varma.
Named after Penguin's foudner, the imprint was fouded in 1967 to showcase Penguin's premier publishing.

Murthy stresses on inclusive growth

Taking time out of his election campaign schedule, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh released Infosys' chief mentor NR Narayana Murthy's book at his official residence in Delhi on April 20 evening.

In a way stretching what his party has been saying all these years, the prime minister said "for the people of India, this book is a message of inclusive growth". The book, A Better India, A Better World, contains 38 lectures that Murthy has delivered over an approximately six year period. Lectures before that were not taken as they would have been too outdated.

Murthy himself described the book as a "blueprint for better India, a better world." He too laid considerable emphasis on the need for more inclusive growth, saying despite the great resurgence of India in the recent past, "we have not lived up to the ideals of our forefathers. This is a book about creating an India we can all be proud of."

The book is the second for the Allen Lane imprint in India, part of Penguin India.

The launch which was held amidst tight security had a limited number of guests - 100 at best, and that included the author's family and friends and few IIT students. A few leading corporate figures like Religare's Malvinder Singh were present too. The PM was around to freely mingle with people during refreshments.

Narayana Murthy has the solutions!

A series of interviews and articles on Infosys' Narayana Murthy dominated the Indian media today. While Murthy had given the interviews earlier, he had decreed that none was to come out before today.

His book, A Better India, A Better World will be launched in Delhi by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on April 20, Monday.

This is what the articles had to say:

Economic Times:
New calling: Murthy to turn venture capitalist

Twenty-eight years after he started Infosys with Rs 10,000 borrowed from his wife, NR Narayana Murthy, whose personal fortune today is said to be worth around $1.8 billion, wants to start a venture fund to invest in new ideas that create value for society.

In an exclusive chat with ET, the chairman and chief mentor of India’s second-largest IT firm, said there are tremendous investment opportunities beyond computers and high-tech areas. Ideas from rural areas need to be encouraged and the urban poor need the right handholding, mentoring and capital to grow.

“I find youngsters want to do all kinds of things. There are people who want to create wealth by booking tickets. There are people who are creating wealth by enhancing the efficiency of production lines. There are people who are creating wealth by providing efficient, decent and cost-effective means for the corporate world. They all have great ideas,” he said.

For full story, click here

Financial Express:
Good, better, best...
The soft-spoken NR Narayana Murthy, Chairman of the Board and Chief Mentor, Infosys Technologies, finally decides to pen down some of his marvellous experiences and thought-provoking ideas in his book, A Better India: A Better World. As he flips the pages of his book, he unveils some of his thoughts in a free-wheeling conversation with Ayushman Baruah
•To start with the obvious, why did you choose to write a book? What is the key idea behind it?
This is not so much of writing a book as it is putting together a few of my speeches based on a certain focus and theme. It reflects some ideas that I have spoken at various points of time on the framework of my philosophy of economic and social development. In the introduction section of my book, I spoke of three pieces in the development puzzle. The first is the ability of the people to practice a certain value system, a certain work ethic, a certain aspiration, honesty and also decency.

For full story, click here

Manmohan to release Narayana Murthy's book

The Prime Minister Manmohan Singh will take off from his busy Advani heckling schedule on April 19 to launch Infosys founder NR Narayana Murthy's new book. The book will be launched at his residence in Delhi.

The book, called A Better India: A Better World, is the second to come out of an Infosys leader in recent months. Nandan Nilekani's Imagining India came out in August last year.

Murthy's book is a vision of what he feels India needs to do to get better. It is in the form of an Introduction followed by a series of lectures delivered over the years.

The book covers many aspects of Indian life, from globalisation to education, politics, values, morals and of course a very brief section on Infosys.

The book will be published under Penguin's Allen Lane imprint.

Infosys mentor is comic book hero

Amar Chitra Katha will publish a comic book on IT czar Narayana Murthy as part of its efforts to have more contemporary icons as part of its title lineup.

ACK Chief Executive Samir Patil said it was at the ideation stage still. The company would look at the story/biography and then mould it for using it in a comic book format.

Another book is scheduled to be on Sachin Tendulkar.

Amar Chitra Katha is famous for bringing figures from history and mythology in the comic book format. However it has not yet profiled a living person in its history.