Narayana Murthy on why TV was banned for his children: 'My wife's logic was…'

Narayana Murthy emphasized need to foster a disciplined home environment for studying, sharing his own family's practice of dedicating time to reading.

Infosys founder Narayana Murthy said that parents should create an environment of discipline at home for children to study. Parents cannot watch movies themselves while asking children to study, he said in response to a question on how students should focus on studies amid distractions like social media. He also shared how he and his wife Sudha Murthy dedicated more than three and half hours each day to reading with their children Akshata and Rohan Murty during their school years to create an environment of discipline.

Narayana Murthy advised against parents watching movies while urging their children to study, advocating for discipline and leading by example. He also criticized coaching classes, suggesting they reflect a lack of classroom attention. (PTI)

From 6.30 pm to 8.30 pm, the family focused on reading and studying, and at the time television banned. The family continued to study together after dinner, from 9 pm to 11 pm, he shared.

“My wife's logic was, if I am watching TV, I cannot tell my children to study. So she said, I will sacrifice my TV time, and I will also study,” he said.

By doing this, children could clear doubts with their parents, he said “but that's not as important as creating an environment of discipline in learning. That leadership by example is the responsibility of the parents. If the parents are going and seeing movies and then telling ‘children, no, no, you study’ that won’t work."

Narayana Murthy also said he does not believe in coaching classes as only those students who fail to pay attention to their teachers in the classroom need them.

He said, “Coaching classes are the wrong way to help children to pass examinations, I don’t believe in coaching classes. Most people who go to coaching classes, they don't listen to their teachers carefully in the class and poor parents, they are not as competent to help them and therefore they see some value (in coaching classes).”