From the shop floor to the top table

One of India’s most outstanding women has visited the kingdom as part of the year-long 50th anniversary celebrations of the Indian Ladies Association of Bahrain.

Sudha Murthy provided a perfect blend between tradition and contemporary beliefs and gave an inspired talk at the Caesar’s Hotel in Adliya.
Her stride is simple, her speech is simple, her attire is simple and her outlook is simple. But simple, she is not.
She said: “I never imagined life would take this path. I come from a middle class family and as a child I had never even thought about going abroad. I never imagined I would be where I am right now.
“God has made me rich for a cause. We must give back to society what we got from it.”
Sudha Murthy is the extraordinary face of India that shines louder than her recognition as the wife of leading businessman Narayana Murthy, founder of the Infosys Technologies in India - the country’s second biggest software services exporter.
A doctor’s daughter from Hubli, a village in the southern state of Karnataka, she proved to be a brilliant student and obtained her master’s degree from the Indian Institute of Science in Bangalore.
Whilst completing her final year, she came across a job advertisement for Telco Motors (Tata Motors), which had a postscript note informing females not to apply.
Infuriated, she wrote a letter of compliant. Within days she was invited for an interview and was hired immediately to become the first woman engineer.
The company explained that the shop floor involved late night shifts and extreme working conditions which they thought would be too uncomfortable for women. It did not put Sudha off.
In addition to being a computer science teacher and an author of a number of publications, she is now also an active philanthropist.
She is the chairwoman of the Infosys Foundation which is actively involved in social development initiatives. 
Sudha added: “My son has given me the best compliment ever. He said: ‘every mother works hard for her children. My mother works hard for other people’s children.’
But a high-profile normally has a price to be paid.
“My husband’s figure is one of a larger-than-life image. He has reached a point now where he no longer belongs solely to the family but to a much wider mass.
“You cannot hold the rising sun. Mr Murthy is an extremely passionate man. He has always been one, even the first time we met.
“He is definitely a better cook than I am – and that sure is one of the reasons I married him!” she joked.
Being able to move in high society circles, it is, perhaps, somewhat surprising to find out that Sudha is not a woman who likes to shop. In fact, the last time she bought herself a sari was 14 years ago! 
She, however, has one passion of her own.
“I buy books everyday. But somehow I haven’t gotten myself to buy clothes or more extravagant items.”
 The ILA’s golden jubilee organising committee chairwoman Meera Ravi said: “We wanted to bring someone who represented the ideals of what the ILA stood for. We unanimously agreed on Sudha Murthy.”

Shilpa Chandran