Supported husband with 10000 rupees to start a company...that is scaling heights today...

Down to the Earth...

Sudha Murthy mam, one of the extremely humblest, kind hearted person on this planet. She is a social worker, chairperson of Infosys foundation and also a writer. Her foundation is providing helping hands to lakhs of people in many ways. She writes books which carry a positive message to children on importance of values and becoming good human beings. She is also the wife of Infosys founder N.R.Narayan Murthy.

She has also written articles in newspapers about ancient temples of India and reviving the rich heritage of the country. I feel extremely happy writing this article, writing about her journey, the positive difference she has created in the society. Here’s her story.

Childhood days and student life

Born on 19th of August, 1950 in Haveri, Karnataka, she was a brilliant student and was good at her academics. During those days, very few girls had access to education. She had to face a lot of difficulties during her early student days.

During her engineering college days, it was found that, among 600 students, she was the only girl and the rest 599 were boys. There was no access to washroom for girls, as it had majority of men including teachers and other staff and during those times, a girl studying engineering was hardly seen in India.

It was such a difficult period but amidst all such difficulties, she came out with flying colours, standing first in her class and receiving a gold medal from the Chief Minister of Karnataka.

EARLY DAYS OF CAREER

She then went on to pursue M.tech in Computer Science at Indian Institute of Science(IISc), Bangalore. One day, she came across a notice on notice board, that TELCO Company was hiring young graduates and interested students could apply for it….and below that, it was written ‘only men can apply’.She was annoyed and decided to write a letter to JRD Tata seeking justice for women to take up the opportunity.

When JRD Tata received the letter, he was displeased with his people and she was immediately given the permission to attend the interview. With her great caliber and skills, she became the first female engineer to be hired at India’s largest auto manufacturer, TELCO.

While working at TELCO, she also had the interest to pursue her higher studies abroad. Now she was in a fix not able to decide whether to continue with the job or pursue her higher studies abroad. Her father gave a good advice to her-

“Because of you, doors have opened to seek opportunities for other women, now if you leave the company and go elsewhere, confidence on women for hiring for a job will go down again, that women cannot work for a long time. Don’t leave your fight now”. Sudha felt that it was right to go with her father’s advice.

Later she got married to Narayan Murthy, an engineer, who had a big dream of bringing the software industry to India and was one among the pioneers. He then shared his dream with his wife, but he didn’t have enough money to start the business. Sudha lended him 10,000 rupees and supported him to go ahead with his new venture. With those 10,000 rupees and working with like minded people, he started Infosys.

To support her husband in this journey, Sudha decided to leave her job. When she went and told this to JRD Tata, it led to an amazing conversation between herself and JRD Tata.

She said, “Sir, I am leaving Telco”. Mr. Tata asked “Is it? Where are you joining?”. She replied, “Sir, I am leaving to Pune. My husband is starting a new company Infosys and hence I have to accompany him”. Mr. Tata replied – “Oh, that’s great. So what shall you do after achieving success?”. She replied in a low tone “Sir, we are not sure whether we may achieve big or not.”

Mr. Tata immediately corrected her words and told “Never start a work with Fear and hesitation.

"While doing any work, we should be alert, set our mind on it, should have good knowledge about it but should never have fear and hesitation. If we start any work saying NO, it may not work, then it may definitely not work. The fear in heart hampers the growth of success from any work. Great Achievers never bow down when met with a failure, instead move forward without fear towards success. My best wishes to you”.

RISE OF INFOSYS FOUNDATION

In 1966, she started the ‘Infosys Foundation’ to support the underprivileged sections of the society. The foundation supports people in the area of education, rural development healthcare, arts and culture etc. It has also lent its helping hand during natural disasters by providing the necessary requirements.

It has built over 60,000 new libraries and schools and 16,000 toilets. The Infosys Foundation has funded 200cr. rupees for building metro station at Electronic city, Bangalore, India.

She continues to work for the upliftment of the poor, betterment of the society and her foundation has reached lakhs and lakhs of people.

She is an avid reader and also has written many books conveying a positive message for the society. Some of her books include -Three Thousand Stitches, How I Taught My Grandmother to Read and other stories, Mahashweta, How The Sea Became Salty and many more.

She has been honoured with “Padmashri” award, “Karnataka Rajyotsava” award in the field of literature and social work, “R.K. Narayana's” Award for Literature and many more awards for her achievement and social well being of all.

The most notable thing about her is that, in spite of having all the money, name and fame, she carries no ego with her and leads a simple life. She is humble, a great social worker and an author and a great inspiration for everyone and above all a good human being.

I hope you have enjoyed reading about one the greatest women achievers of India.

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