Nidhi Razdan’s open letter to N. R. Narayana Murthy in Gulf News

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Transcript

00:00Dear Mr. Narayan Murthy, First of all, I'd like to tell you how much respect and admiration

00:07I have had for you for decades. Like so many of us in the country, we look up to you and

00:12really admire the work that you have done, the pioneer that you have been. Therefore,

00:18I hope you don't mind if I write this open letter to you to disagree with your views

00:23on work-life balance. I go into some detail in the letter on why I do disagree with you.

00:29But to summarize that in this video, all I'd like to say is that you don't necessarily

00:34have to work longer hours to be more productive. And many countries around the world have already

00:39proven that. There are many countries now that have also switched to a four-day work

00:43week so that people are more productive, they're happier, that their all-around well-being

00:49is important. And I think that's something that we need to emulate as well. Employees

00:55are not slaves. And I think to focus on their overall well-being, mental health, their happiness

01:02is as important as the number of hours they put in. There is another crucial thing that

01:06you've also overlooked when you've talked about 70, 80-hour work weeks, which is women.

01:12Women don't just have responsibilities that end in the office. They stretch way beyond

01:17that into their homes. They have to manage their homes, their kids, their families, as

01:21well as their office and their work lives. And most women cannot really afford to work

01:28those kind of hours that you're talking about. To be able to do both already, female labor

01:33force participation is so low in India and should be much, much higher. These are just

01:37some of the reasons that I cited in my open letter to you. I do hope you get a chance

01:42to read it respectfully. As I said earlier too, I disagree with your views.