'Wonder why young people are getting heart attacks': Bengaluru cardiologist shares his take on Narayana Murthy's 'work 70 hours a week' advice

Infosys co-founder Narayana Murthy has sparked quite the stir on social media with his "70 hours a week" comments on a podcast with former Infosys CFO Mohandas Pai. While Murthy was backed by the likes of Ola's Bhavish Aggarwal and BharatPe co-founder Ashneer Grover, a Bengaluru-based cardiologist was not impressed by the industrialist's take on India's work culture.

Narayana Murthy said on a podcast with former Infosys CFO Mohandas Pai that the youngsters have to work 12 hours a day for the country to catch up with economies that have seen tremendous progress in the past 2-3 decades. He further explained India's productivity is among the lowest in the world.

Murthy also said that youngsters must put in extra work hours like Japan and Germany after World War II to compete with countries like China. Bengaluru-based cardiologist Dr Deepak Krishnamurthy took to X formerly known as Twitter to explain the long-term health effects to having unreasonable work hours.

He also broke down how the day of an average professional looks like in a city like Bengaluru. Dr Krishnamurthy further said that such unreasonable work hours can cause a host of heart-related health problems such as increasing heart attacks among young people.

"24 hours per day (as far as I know) If you work 6 days a week- 12 hours per day Remaining 12 hours: 8 hours sleep 4 hours remain. In a city like Bengaluru-- 2 hours on the road. 2 hours remain-- Brush, poop, bathe, eat. No time to socialise, no time to talk to family, no time to exercise, no time for recreation. Not to mention companies expect people to answer emails and calls after work hours also. Then, wonder why young people are getting #Heartattacks?" Dr Krishnamurthy wrote in his post on X.

Dr Krishnamurthy's take found many takers on X as users said that India's work culture needs to change for the better. "Work culture should definitely change. But towards lesser work hours, Saturday Sunday offs in all workplaces including hospitals, better pays and hikes. Regular institute sponsored trainings to update skills," one of the users said.

"@Infosys founder advocates for young Indians to work 70 hours a week, leading to health issues like hypertension, heart attacks, and chronic fatigue. It's time for a change!" another user wrote.

"To say the least, this will lead to cardiac issues, stress related complications, mental & psychological problems, divorce, parental issues, anxiety and so on. Well, he is suggested to follow the famous advice of “be the change you want to see.” Start with family!" a user also said on X.

Also Read: 'Not just 70, more like 140': Ola CEO Bhavish Aggarwal bats for Infosys founder Narayana Murthy’s work hours outlook

Also Watch: NR Narayana Murthy's 'work 70 hours a week' remark, Bhavish Aggarwal and Ronnie Screwvala's take on it, Akash Ambani showcases Reliance JioSpaceFiber at India Mobile Congress 2023: India Inc on X (Twitter)

Also Read: 'Junta got offended because...': Here's what Ashneer Grover said on Narayana Murthy’s 70-hour work week comment