An eminent writer in English and Kannada, born on 19 August 1950, Sudha Murthy is a Social Worker. She worked with many organizations for the welfare of the common man. She was popular for her benevolent work through Infosys Foundation. In January 2023, she was further honored with the Padma Bhushan for her social work.
She works toward the betterment of the society and rural development. She aims to provide the government aided schools with computer education and library facilities. Apart from all her social works, she even taught Computer Science. She is also a renowned author of many fiction novels. She is also a member of healthcare initiatives of the Gates Foundations.
Early Life– Sudha Kulkarni Murthy
Sudha Kulkarni Murthy was born to Dr. R.H. Kulkarni and Vimala Kulkarni in Shiggaon, Karnataka. Sudha Murthy had done her BE in Electrical Engineering from B.V.B College of Engineering and Technology. She obtained first in her class and received the gold medal from the then Karnataka Chief Minister, Sri Devaraj Urs.
After completing her studies, she pursued M.E. in Computer Science from the Indian Institute of Science. She obtained the gold medal from the Indian Institute of Engineers for coming first.
The first female engineer – Career graph of Sudha Murthy
Mrs. Murthy became the first female engineer hired India’s largest auto manufacturer TELCO (Tata Engineering and Locomotive Company) now Tata motors. She worked as Development Engineer in various locations like Pune, Mumbai, and Jamshedpur. She had raised the issue of ‘men-only” gender bias problems in the company. The Chairman of TELCO noted her issue and called her for a special interview.
She then worked as Senior System Analyst in Walchand group of Industries in Pune. After being in Pune from 1974- 1981, Sudha Murthy moved to Mumbai. Sudha Murthy had contributed her Rs. 10,000 savings to the firm Infosys, in the founding of the company.
In 1996 she started with the Infosys Foundation and continues to be a Trustee of Infosys Foundation. She still loves teaching hence pursue her interest in providing knowledge and training to students in PG Center of Bangalore University as Visiting Professor as well in taught in Christ College.
Personal Life
While working in TELCO in Pune, she met her soul mate Mr. Narayana Murthy and they got married. They have two kids Akshata and Rohan. She is the pillar for the success of Infosys Foundation. She is still associated with her husband to build up the company.
Social Commitments
Sudha Murthy is famous for many of philanthropist works. She aims to empower women. She spreads the awareness of rural education, public hygiene, poverty alleviation and much more. She imbibes the need to maintain clean India, hence building up toilets for public. She has been passionate in helping people in flood affected areas too.
Sudha Murthy and her writings
Being an Author, Mrs. Murthy has published many stories. Her writing had a flavor of common lives. She wrote on hospitality, her childhood, realizing views on donations and charity. Many of her Kannada books got translated into English and some got adapted into TV series. Many of her works were children’s series. Sudha Murthy is a bountiful fiction author in Kannada as well English. Most of her publications were through Penguin. Some of the famous ones in Kannada were
- Dollar Sose
- Kaveri inda Mekaanige
- Runa
- Hakkiya Teradalli
- Gutthondu Heluve
One of her famous work was the “How I taught my grandmother to read and other stories “. The book was translated into 15 other languages. It reflects her childhood association with her paternal grandparents. Her first novel titled House of Cards narrates the turmoil faced by the wife of a lucrative doctor.
Awards and Recognitions – to name a few
From the start of her education, she had won many prestigious awards. Sudha Murthy got recognized for the Raja-Lakshmi award by the Sri Raja-Lakshmi Foundation in Chennai in 2004. She won the award for her outstanding performance is Social works. She won the Padma Shri, the fourth highest ranking official as per the Government of India and even obtained a doctorate for her publications.