At 17 and a half, I told my father, who was a doctor, that I wanted to do engineering, at a time when it was unheard of for a woman to get into engineering,” said Sudha Murty, recalling the moment that kick-started her career and set her on the path of being a woman who has donned many hats – engineer, writer, philanthropist, and now, an MP. Murty, who recently released her book The Circle of Life, and whose Kannada biography Saadhaneya Shikhara was released on Sunday, continued, sharing the obstacles that lay in her way, hailing from a community where women were conditioned to excel in domestic roles and not beyond that, “A few people said, ‘If you do engineering, no boy from northern Karnataka will marry you’…everybody gave their own piece of advice.”
Speaking at a Women’s Day event, the audience turned silent listeners as Murty recounted the challenges she faced in, first, attending college, and then, having to walk over two kilometres to use the restroom. “I decided whenever I have money, I will do it [construct toilets], because I know what it is to be a woman and not have a toilet.” Despite this, Murty has a firmly positive outlook, believing that challenges are what make one confident, she said, “I learned a lot from life. All adversity became my teacher, you should have difficulty in life. Don’t make yourself grow up without difficulty because it makes you confident. Confidence comes when you solve a challenge.”
When the non-profit, Infosys Foundation, was formed under her aegis, this cause was on her agenda, leading to the construction of around 14,000 toilets. Recalling the initial times of Infosys, she recounts her decision to lend `10,000 to her husband NR Narayan Murthy to start the company, an act of trust rather than foresight, and something she never expected would result in the global tech giant.“I never expected he would return it... Initially, when we got money, it felt like a jackpot, then I realised the point of it. Every night when I sleep, I ask this question - why did I get this money? If you have a mass of wealth more than what you need, it has a lot of negative repercussions. God gave me wealth so I can serve the poorest of the poor.”
Crediting her success to the support of her family, she said, “Behind every successful woman there is an understanding man. It could be your father, your brother, your husband, your son-in-law, or all four. But unless the family is supportive, it’s very hard for a woman to succeed. And that is why I am very successful.” Murty added, “It’s also true for a man. Because if the man is successful, there is a lady who walks along with him, not behind.”
Signing off with an empowering message to all the women, Murty said, “A woman becomes happy when she makes her own choices. All of it will become natural, over a period of time because it’s a big change for us. For hundreds of years, our grandparents, our grandmothers, great grandmothers, were oppressed, and now the pot is open.”