Sudha Murthy is the chairman of the non-profit organization Infosys Foundation. She is a famous Indian writer.
Wiki/Biography
Sudha was born on Saturday, August 19, 1950, in Shiggaon, Karnataka (72 years old as of 2022). Her zodiac sign is Leo. She received her Bachelor’s degree in Electrical and Electronics Engineering from BVB College of Engineering and Technology, Karnataka, and topped her class, for which she received a gold medal from the then Chief Minister of Karnataka, Devaraj Urs medal. Later, she joined the Indian Institute of Science, Karnataka and completed her Masters in Computer Science. She once again finished first in her class and won the gold medal.
appearance
Height (approximately): 5′2″
Hair Color: Salt and Pepper
Eye color: black
family, caste and husband
She was born into a Brahmin Hindu family. Her father Dr RH Kulkarni was a surgeon. Her mother’s name is Vimala Kulkarni. Sudha has a brother and two sisters. Her brother Shrinivas Kulkarni is a famous astronomer who won the Dan David Award in 2017. Her eldest sister Sunanda Kulkarni is a gynecologist at a government hospital in Bengaluru. Her sister Jaishree Deshpande is the founder of “Deshpande Foundation” and the wife of Gururaj Deshpande, co-founder of Chelmsford.
Sudha Murthy with her parents and siblings
She started her first job at TELCO where she met NR Narayana Murthy through her friend Prasanna. In an interview, while sharing her first meeting with Narayana, she said:
Most of the books Prasanna lent me had Murthy’s name on them, which meant I had a preconceived impression of the man. Contrary to expectations, Murthy was shy, bespectacled and introverted. I was a little surprised when he invited us to dinner because I thought this young man moved very quickly. I declined because I was the only girl in the group. But Murthy showed no mercy and we decided to have dinner at Green Fields Hotel on Pune’s main road at 7:30 pm the next day. “
Sudha used to attend parties, watch movies and go to restaurants with Murthy. Soon, the two started liking each other and one day, Narayana proposed to her. Initially, Sudha’s father opposed their marriage because Murthy’s income was not much. Later, Murthy quit his job and started working as a general manager at Patni Computers in Mumbai. Sudha’s father is happy with Murthy’s new job and agrees to their marriage.
Sudha and Murthy got married on February 10, 1978 at Murthy’s house. The cost of getting married is only Rs. 800, shared by Sudha and Murthy. The couple gave birth to a baby girl, Akshata Murty, in 1980 and a baby boy, Rohan Murty, in 1983.
Sudha Murthy and NR Narayana Murthy’s wedding photos
Sudha Murthy and her family
On October 25, 2022, her son-in-law Rishi Sunak was appointed as the new Prime Minister of the United Kingdom by King Charles III.
Profession
Sudha started her career as a Development Engineer at TELCO, Pune. In February 1974, she happened to see a recruitment advertisement from a telecommunications company. The footnote on the advertisement read: “Female candidates do not need to apply.” She was hurt by this kind of gender discrimination in a big company like TELCO, so she decided to write a postcard to JRD Tata (then chairman of TELCO). In an interview, when she was asked how she got her first job, she said:
I sent the postcard and forgot about it. A surprise awaited. A telegram soon arrived requesting an interview and promising to reimburse the two-way first-class fare. “
In 1981, Sudha’s husband NR Narayana Murthy decided to move to Pune and start his own company, Infosys. Sudha had to quit her job in Mumbai Telecom. In an interview, she shared an incident when she was about to quit her job at a telecommunications company, saying,
It was another chance encounter when I was going downstairs and JRD Tata was climbing up the stairs at Bombay House. “I told him I was quitting.” He said, “You have worked for this job for so long and now you are quitting?” I told him that my husband wanted to start an Infosys venture. Then JRD almost became a prophet and said, “If you make a lot of money, you have to give it back to society because you get so much love from society.” That was the last time I saw him. “
She quit her job, moved to Pune with her husband and joined ‘Walchand Group of Industries’ as a Senior Systems Analyst. Later, in 1996, Sudha co-founded Infosys Foundation, a non-profit organization aimed at helping the underprivileged sections of society. The nonprofit’s mission is to provide assistance in education, rural development, health care, arts and culture, and indigent care. The Infosys Foundation has one of its branches in the US and supports science, technology, engineering and mathematics and community start-ups.
Sudha’s Infosys Foundation has built more than 2,300 houses in flood-affected areas of India and built more than 70,000 libraries for schools. They have helped build more than 10,000 toilets in rural Bengaluru. They have helped people affected by natural disasters like tsunami in Tamil Nadu and Andaman, earthquake in Kutch, cyclones and floods in Odisha, Andhra Pradesh, drought in Karnataka and Maharashtra.
Apart from being a philanthropist, she serves as a visiting professor at the PG Center of Bangalore University and has taught at Christ University, Bangalore. She is one of the famous writers in India. She has written many famous books in English and Kannada including Samanyaralli Asamanyaru, Guttondu Heluve, Hakkiya Teradalli, Sukeshini Mattu Itara Makkala Kathegalu, How I Taught My Grandmother to Read, The Accolades Galore”, “Dollar Bahu” and “Three Thousand Needles”.
Sudha Murthy talks her book launch
Sudha was nominated to the Rajya Sabha by President Droupadi Murmu on March 8, 2024.
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi tweeted: “I am happy that the President of India has nominated Sudha Murthy to the Rajya Sabha. Sudha Ji has done tremendous work in various fields including social work, philanthropy and education. Her contribution is inspiring. Her presence in the House of Commons is a recognition of the people of India.”… pic.twitter.com/DuV8dZb4oT
— ANI (@ANI) March 8, 2024
dispute
The registration license of her NGO Infosys Foundation was revoked by India’s Ministry of Home Affairs in 2019. Her NGO had failed to provide income and expenditure statements on foreign funding in the past few years and was deregistered for violating norms.
Awards and Honors
Karnataka Rajyotsava, National Award
2000: Achievements in literature and social work
Ojaswini Award
2001: 2000 Outstanding Social Work Award
Raja Lakshmi Award
2004: Social Work, Sri Raja-Lakshmi Foundation, Chennai
Sudha Murthy wins Raj Laxmi Award
RK Narayana Award
2006: Literature
Padma Award
2006: Social Work
Sudha Murthy meets Padma Shri
2023: Padmasambhava
Atimabai Award from the Government of Karnataka
2011: Kannada Literary Excellence Award
Crossword Puzzle – Raymond Book Award
2018: Lifetime Achievement Award
Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur Prize
2019: Honorary Degree, Doctor of Science
Note: There are many more honors to her name.
address
Neralu, #1/2 (1878), 11th Trunk, 39th Cross, 4th Block T, Jayanagar, Bangalore 560011, Karnataka
net worth
In 2004, her net worth was estimated to be Rs 775 crore (approx.).
Favorites
- Movies: Naya Daur (1957), Gunga Jumna (1961), Devdas (1955), Mughal-E-Azam (1960), Kohinoor (1960), Junglee (1961), Anand (1971), Kati Patang (1971) ), Amar Prem (1972) and Abhimaan (1973)
- Songs: Dil Tadap Tadap and Suhana Safar from Madhumati (1958), Mere Mehboob Tujhe from Mere Mehboob (1963)
- Businessmen: Ratan Tata and JRD Tata
Facts/Trivia
- Sudha is the only female student in a class of 600 students. The university president admitted her under three conditions. He asked Sudha to always wear saree, not to go to the canteen and not to talk to the boys in the college.
- In the late 1960s, she had a bob haircut and wore jeans and a T-shirt, which was a scandal at the time.
Old photos of Sudha Murthy
- Her hobbies include reading, traveling and watching movies. In 2014, she said in an interview with Filmfare,
I watched 500 DVDs in my home theater. I look at a film as a whole – its directing, editing…every aspect. “People know me as a social worker, a writer… but no one knows that I am a movie buff. That’s why I am happy to be interviewed by Filmfare. This guy even watched 365 movies in 365 days ’s filmmaker admitted: “I could actually be a film journalist. I never get tired of movies! “
- Sudha gives Rs. She gave her husband 10,000 yuan to start her own company, Infosys. She shared this incident in an interview,
Muti is a typical person who only has dreams but no money. So I gave him 10,000 rupees, which I had saved for emergencies, without his knowledge, and told him that this was all I had. Take it. I’ll give you three years’ leave. I will take care of our family’s financial needs. You can pursue your dreams without any worries. But you only have three years! “
- Despite her qualifications and experience, she never joined Infosys. She revealed the reason behind this in an interview,
Murthy said he did not want a husband-and-wife team at Infosys. I was shocked as I had relevant experience and technical qualifications. He said, Sudha, if you want to work with Infosys, I will quit, happily. It was painful to know that I would not be involved in the company my husband was building and that I would have to give up a job that I was qualified to do and enjoyed doing. It took me several days to understand the reason for Muti’s request. I realized that for Infosys to succeed, it had to give 100%. One must concentrate on it without other distractions. “
- Interestingly, there are two photos hanging on one wall of her NGO, one is of her first employer JRD Tata and the other is of Jamsetji (a plaque given to her by the Dalai Lama) .
- In her book Three Thousand Stitches, she shares an incident when a woman at Heathrow Airport called her a “cow class” for wearing a salwar kameez.
- She appeared in the ETV Kannada television series “Preethi Illada Mele” (2006), and later in 2017, she made a cameo appearance in the Kannada film “Uppu, Huli, Khara”.
- In 2019, she resigned from the Tirupati temple board of directors.
- She appeared in KBC 11’s Karamveer episode on 29 November 2019. As a mark of respect, Amitabh Bachchan touched her feet and welcomed her to the show. Sudha gave him a sheet made by the goddess temple.
Sudha Murthy’s show on KBC
- On September 24, 2023, Sudha Murthy filed a complaint regarding the unauthorized use of her name to promote events in the United States. According to Sudha, her name was wrongly associated with two events: one where she was appointed as the chief guest despite declining the invitation; and another where a person named Shruthi falsely An excuse to raise money for an event she didn’t attend. Based on these allegations, the Bengaluru police registered a case against Shruthi and a girl named Lavanya, who confirmed Sudha’s identity as the person in charge of the event to the event organizers.
- In an interview, Narayana Murthy talks about his journey to founding Infosys and reflects on the decisions he made. He said he had made mistakes along the way and regretted not letting Sudha join Infosys.
Categories: Biography
Source: HIS Education