Lessons from Chak de
Thoughts and Dialogue: Narayan Murthy
Creative effort: Irfan Syed

Narayana Murthy’s experience
• The other day, my wife and I were
perhaps among the very few over
50-year-olds in the mostly-
twentyish crowd watching the film
Chak De in Bangalore.
• You had to be there to believe the
shouts of joy that accompanied
every goal India scored in the
imaginary tournament in the
movie. The mood at the end was
as if India had actually won the
women’s world cup in hockey.

Pride of winning
• I can appreciate this mood since I too felt similar joy and
pride when hundreds of cameras clicked at me holding our
national flag, on India and my being declared the winners
of the prestigious world entrepreneur award among the
forty-odd competing nations at Monaco in 2003.

Reality in every sphere
• As I exited the theatre after watching Chak De
that day, several youngsters asked me for my
reaction to the movie. My answer was simple. I
said I wanted to see the movie become a reality
not just in hockey but in every sphere.

The recipe for success
• The recipe for such a success was most
wonderfully conveyed by Shah Rukh Khan and
those wonderful women hockey players in the
movie. Let me recount them here.

‘Indian first’ attitude
• We have to identify as Indians first and
rise above our affiliations with our states,
religions and castes.

Accept meritocracy
• We must accept meritocracy and
enthusiastically play the role we are best
suited to.

Embrace discipline
• We must embrace discipline to strictly follow
every step required for success.

Nation first
• We have to put the interest of our nation
ahead of our personal interests,
subordinating our egos and biases.

Hard work and sacrifices
• Finally, we have to put in tremendous hard work
and make short-term sacrifices for long-term glory.

Set examples
• I have immense faith and optimism in the youth of this country.
But, will we get our leaders to set examples for hundreds of
millions of Indian youth? I wish more and more of our leaders see
Chak De and learn these precious lessons