Narayana Murthy, Reminding the Internet of the “70 Hour Workweek,” while enjoying ice cream in Bengaluru with her daughter

The founder of Infosys and ardent “advocate” of the seventy-hour workday, Narayana Murthy, was recently seen enjoying a sweet treat at a well-known ice cream parlor in Bengaluru with his daughter, British First Lady Akshata Murty. Their frank encounter at the famous Corner House in Jayanagar went viral on social media, sparking interest and laughter in equal measure. You may wonder, why?

Akshata, the wife of UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, was sitting next to her father in the picture, casually enjoying their ice cream cones as they smiled for the camera. The image of this father-daughter pair relaxing on a Monday night, evidently breaking Mr. Murthy’s own 70-hour workweek idea, didn’t fail to raise eyebrows on the internet. When the subject of work-life balance or family comes up, it’s become something of a ritual for the Desi community on the internet to transform such occurrences into clever memes by bringing up the phrase “70 hours.”

One user on “X,” previously Twitter, said, “It’s only 8.30 pm on a Monday shouldn’t they both be hard at work getting their 70 hours in for the week.” The person had discovered the popular picture.

“They ask you to work 70 hours a week, so that they can belt a coconut scoop at 7pm on a Monday,” said someone else in a hilarious way. A fourth person sarcastically wondered, “Is he on vacation?,” while a third person joined in the joke, laughing, “1 hour wasted.” What became to the 70-hour work week schedule?

The first lady, meantime, made her debut in India last week when she traveled there with her renowned parents, Sudha and Narayana Murthy, to attend the book launch of novelist Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni’s most recent work, “An Uncommon Love: The Early Life of Sudha and Narayana Murthy.”

The Infosys founder used the occasion, which took place at Bengaluru’s St. Joseph’s College of Commerce, as a sentimental setting to reflect on his first meetings with Mrs. Murty in the early 1970s. An ongoing friendship between Mr. Murthy and Sudha Murty was finally sparked by the latter’s large book collection. Sudha Murty is well-known for her passionate love of reading.