The spark of a young woman still glows in her — evident right from the moment when 67-year-old Sudha Murthy greeted the huge turnout at the Indian School of Business (ISB) in Hyderabad with a namaskar. Clad in a blue cotton sari, the Padma Shri recipient was launching her latest book, Three Thousand Stitches. As the interaction with author Sriram Karri began, Sudha said, “I guess people can hear me even without a mike because I was a teacher for a long time.” Drawing from her own life experiences, Sudha’s book is a collection of short stories.
Addressing the audience on the occasion, her 45-minute speech was peppered with insightful anecdotes and witty analogies with several references to the Bhagvad Gita, shlokas and Vedas.
“I always tell everyone to lead a simple life and listen to their conscience. The beauty of a person lies in simplicity and confidence; so live life for yourself and not for others. It was Narayana Murthy’s simplicity that attracted me to him. He was simple, honest and never spoke about my beauty or my outfits, but believed in me as a good human being,” said Sudha, who is the chairperson of the Infosys Foundation.
The audience during the session
Her statement ‘behind every successful woman there’s an understanding man’ received a thunderous applause. “I believe women are always better than men in academics (smiles), but women can do better if ably supported by her family. I advise women to spend maximum time with their kids until they are 14, and that’s what I did,” she revealed, adding, “I wasn’t a strict mother and never insisted my kids to come first in the class, but always spent time with them. I never partied or went out, instead stayed with the kids. I had only two lives — office and home.”
Sudha also mentioned her penchant for arts. “I used to watch films before marriage, and even acted in a film (without any dialogues),” she said. Soon, the floor opened for public questions. When someone asked her whether it was more challenging to write books for children or adults, Sudha explained, “Obviously for kids because we need to draw analogies.”
“Contributing to society is a great gesture, but not at your family’s cost. I saw the world through my foundation and came to know people better,” she said, on giving back to society. When asked about increasingly fragile relationships, she said, “Growing expectations from your spouse is the basic problem. I want the next generation to make adjustments and accept the change. I recommend a jaane do yaar (let it go) attitude for a prosperous life.” Post the session, Sudha signed copies of the books bought by her fans.
