Sudha Murty : My Inspiration

She is never afraid to walk alone in her life, and fight against discrimination, women behind the establishment of Infosys Foundation, and a prolific writer in English and Kannada who has published more than 20 books. Her name is Mrs. Sudha Murthy. 

She belonged to a middle-class family in Karnataka in 1950. Her father, R.H Kulkarni, was a doctor, and her mother, Vimla Kulkarni, was a school teacher. She lived in an educational and serious environment. In most families, education is not considered necessary for girls, but she pursued engineering at B.V.B. College of Engineering & Technology in 1972. She was the only girl among 150 students, and her classmates used to harass and make fun of her. Ignoring all of these, she secured a gold medal in her batch. Parents are still reluctant to educate girls further and send them away from home to study. The ratio in engineering college is still in favor of boys, and she did this in the 1960s. She encouraged us not to be afraid to walk alone, ignore people who mock you, and always follow our dreams. 

She did not stop here, after completing her master degree, she planned to go abroad to pursue a doctorate. One day she came across an advertisement on her college notice board from a notable automobile company TELCO, Tata Motors, of the present time. The advertisement published a vacancy for an engineer and under the advertisement, it was written at the bottom line 'lady candidates need not apply'. She was shocked to see such a big company doing gender discrimination. She stood against this and wrote a letter to J.R.D. Tata, head of the company, complaining about this. She received a letter from J.R.D. Tata, within ten days, for the interview. No wonder, she became India's first female engineer to be employed in India. Her position at Telco was important in redefining the company's jobs policies.

She is the backbone of Infosys company, established by her husband, K Narayana Murthy. She supported him financially from her savings to handling the family alone. Being a career woman, she sacrificed her pleasure and career to bring the company up during these difficult times. 

She believes in giving back to society and helping needy people. She established the Infosys foundation for this purpose. Her projects span rural development, women empowerment, basic healthcare, education and a house for the orphanage. Sudha Murthy has always been inclined towards the advancement of women. She has been working with the Gates Foundation for decades. 

We can estimate the passion of Sudha Murthy from the fact that when we wait for Sundays to have fun and relax, she works on Sunday as well. She says she does not need any holiday because what we do on holiday is enjoyment and her work is her biggest source of enjoyment and happiness. 

She is a renounced and one of the highest-selling authors in India. Mrs. Murthy used to write only in her native language Kannada. At the age of 50, she started writing in English. Age is no barrier to her energy and passion for work. She inspired me to start writing this year, and it became one of my goals for this year. 

She is the epitome of women empowerment and an inspiration for all women. Throughout her life, she taught us to fight injustice and work towards our dreams.

-Jyoti Yadav