People of 2020: Sudha Murty, the 'Empress of Empathy'

Sudha Murty, 70 
Author, Philanthropist

The 70-year-old storyteller was one of the first to realise the gravity of the Covid-19 crisis and used the Infosys Foundation and her personal wealth of over Rs 2,500 crore well, donating one lakh dry ration kits, ordering 2.4 lakh PPE kits, organising millions of litres of hand sanitisers, providing 25 lakh meals for the underprivileged, starting a kitchen in Hyderabad for schoolchildren, ordering 200 ventilators from Mysore, and converting a 250-bed hospital into a Covid-speciality hospital.

This was, she said, the 14th disaster she was involved in, but the most widespread. She also found time to write a book of short stories as a way of entertaining children cooped up in their homes. Even during the pandemic, while sitting at home, she worked 10-12 hours a day.