Sudha Murty (; born 19 August 1950) is an Indian educator, author, and philanthropist. She is the Founder-Chairperson of the non-profit charitable organization

Infosys Foundation Infosys Foundation is a Nonprofit organization, non-profit organisation based in Karnataka, India, established in 1996 by Infosys to support the underprivileged sections of society. It supports programs in the areas of education, rural develo ...

. She is married to the co-founder of

Infosys Infosys Limited is an Indian multinational corporation, multinational technology company that offers business consulting, information technology, and outsourcing services. Founded in 1981 in Pune, the company is headquartered in Bengaluru. On ...

, N. R. Narayana Murthy. In 2024, Murty was nominated as

Member of Parliament, Rajya Sabha A Member of Parliament in the Rajya Sabha (abbreviated: MP) is the representative of the States and union territories of India, Indian states to the upper house of the Parliament of India which is known as "Rajya Sabha" (constitutionally "Cou ...

on 8 March 2024 for her contribution to social work and education. Murty was awarded the

Padma Shri The Padma Shri (IAST: ''padma śrī'', lit. 'Lotus Honour'), also spelled Padma Shree, is the fourth-highest Indian honours system, civilian award of the Republic of India, after the Bharat Ratna, the Padma Vibhushan and the Padma Bhushan. In ...

, the fourth highest civilian award in India, for social work by the

Government of India The Government of India (ISO 15919, ISO: Bhārata Sarakāra, legally the Union Government or Union of India or the Central Government) is the national authority of the Republic of India, located in South Asia, consisting of States and union t ...

in 2006. In 2023, she was awarded the

Padma Bhushan The Padma Bhushan (IAST: ''Padma Bhūṣaṇa'', lit. 'Lotus Decoration') is the third-highest civilian award in the Republic of India, preceded by the Bharat Ratna and the Padma Vibhushan and followed by the Padma Shri. Instituted on 2 Januar ...

, the third highest civilian award in India. Sudha Murty began her professional career in computer science and engineering. She is a member of the public health care initiatives of the

Gates Foundation The Gates Foundation is an American private foundation founded by Bill Gates and Melinda French Gates. Based in Seattle, Washington, it was launched in 2000 and is reported to be the third largest charitable foundation in the world, holding $ ...

. She has founded several orphanages, participated in

rural development Rural development is the process of improving the quality of life, quality of life and economic well-being of people living in rural areas, often relatively isolated and sparsely populated areas. Often, rural regions have experienced rural povert ...

efforts, supported the movement to provide all

Karnataka Karnataka ( ) is a States and union territories of India, state in the southwestern region of India. It was Unification of Karnataka, formed as Mysore State on 1 November 1956, with the passage of the States Reorganisation Act, 1956, States Re ...

government schools with computer and library facilities, and established Murty Classical Library of India at

Harvard University Harvard University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1636 and named for its first benefactor, the History of the Puritans in North America, Puritan clergyma ...

. Murty is best known for her philanthropy and her contribution to literature in Kannada and English. ''Dollar Bahu'' (), a novel originally authored by her in

Kannada Kannada () is a Dravidian language spoken predominantly in the state of Karnataka in southwestern India, and spoken by a minority of the population in all neighbouring states. It has 44 million native speakers, and is additionally a ...

and later translated into English as ''Dollar Bahu,'' was adapted as a televised dramatic series by

Zee TV ZEE TV also known as Z TV is an Indian Hindi language general entertainment pay television channel owned by Zee Entertainment Enterprises. It was launched on 1 October 1992 as the oldest privately owned television channel in India. History ...

in 2001. ''Runa'' (), a story by Sudha Murty was adapted as a Marathi film, '' Pitruroon'' by director Nitish Bhardwaj. Sudha Murty has also acted in the film as well as a Kannada film ''Prarthana''.

Early life and education

Sudha Murty was born to a

-speaking family on 19 August 1950 in

Shiggaon Shiggaon, also known as Shiggavi is a municipal town in Haveri district in the Indian state of Karnataka. Geography Shiggaon is about 365 km from Bengaluru and 465 km from Pune on the NH-48 (National Highway 4). Shiggaon taluk was ea ...

Haveri district Haveri is a district in the state of Karnataka, India. As of 2011, it had a population of 1,597,668, out of which 20.78% were urban residents. The district headquarters is Haveri. Ranebennur is the biggest city in Haveri district with populatio ...

in Mysore State (present-day

), India, the daughter of R. H. Kulkarni, a surgeon, and his wife Vimala Kulkarni, a schoolteacher. She was raised by her parents and maternal grandparents. These childhood experiences form the historical basis for her first notable work entitled ''How I Taught My Grandmother to Read, Wise and Otherwise and Other Stories''. Murty completed a BEng in Electrical and Electronics Engineering from the B.V.B. College of Engineering & Technology (now known as KLE Technological University), and then a MEng in Computer Science from the

Indian Institute of Science The Indian Institute of Science (IISc) is a Public university, public, Deemed university, deemed, research university for higher education and research in science, engineering, design, and management. It is located in Bengaluru, Karnataka. The ...

Career

Sudha Murty became the first female engineer hired at India's largest auto manufacturer TATA Engineering and Locomotive Company (TELCO). She joined the company as a Development Engineer in

Pune Pune ( ; , ISO 15919, ISO: ), previously spelled in English as Poona (List of renamed Indian cities and states#Maharashtra, the official name until 1978), is a city in the state of Maharashtra in the Deccan Plateau, Deccan plateau in Western ...

and then worked in

Mumbai Mumbai ( ; ), also known as Bombay ( ; its official name until 1995), is the capital city of the Indian state of Maharashtra. Mumbai is the financial capital and the most populous city proper of India with an estimated population of 12 ...

and

Jamshedpur Jamshedpur (; ), also known as Tatanagar, is a major industrial city in eastern India. It is the List of cities in Jharkhand by population, largest city in the state of Jharkhand. With a population of 629,658 in the city limits and 1.3 million ...

as well. She had written a postcard to the company's Chairman complaining of the "men only" gender bias at TELCO. As a result, she was granted a special interview and hired immediately. She later joined Walchand Group of Industries at Pune as Senior Systems Analyst. In 1996, she started

and retired in 2020. She also taught at Christ University. Sudha Murty has written and published many books which include novels, non-fiction, travelogues, technical books, and memoirs. Her books have been translated into all major Indian languages. She was a columnist for English and

newspapers.

Philanthropy

Murty's

is a public charitable trust founded in 1996.

Personal life

Sudha Murty is married to

co-founder N. R. Narayana Murthy. They married when she was employed as an engineer at TELCO in Pune. The couple have two children, including fashion designer Akshata Murty, who is married to former

Prime Minister of the United Kingdom The prime minister of the United Kingdom is the head of government of the United Kingdom. The prime minister Advice (constitutional law), advises the Monarchy of the United Kingdom, sovereign on the exercise of much of the Royal prerogative ...

Rishi Sunak Rishi Sunak (born 12 May 1980) is a British politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Leader of the Conservative Party (UK), Leader of the Conservative Party from 2022 to 2024. Following his defeat to Keir Starmer's La ...

. Her siblings include Dr. Sunanda Kulkarni,

Caltech The California Institute of Technology (branded as Caltech) is a private university, private research university in Pasadena, California, United States. The university is responsible for many modern scientific advancements and is among a small g ...

astrophysicist Shrinivas Kulkarni and Jaishree Deshpande (wife of Gururaj Deshpande) who co-founded the Deshpande Center for Technological Innovation at MIT.

Awards

* 2004: Raja-Lakshmi Award by Sri Raja-Lakshmi Foundation in Chennai * 2006: India's fourth highest civilian award

* 2006: She also received the R.K. Narayana's Award for Literature. * 2010: Daana Chintamani Attimabbe Award by Karnataka Government. * 2011: Murty was conferred honorary LL.D (Doctor of Laws) degrees for contributions to promote formal legal education and scholarship in India. * 2013: Basava Shree-2013 Award was presented to Narayan Murty & Sudha Murty for their contributions to society. * 2018: Murty received the Crossword Book award in popular (Non-Fiction) category. * 2019: IIT Kanpur awarded her Honorary Degree ( ''Honoris Causa'') of Doctor of Science. * 2023:

by the

* 2023: Sahitya Akademi Bal Sahitya Puraskar. * 2023: The Global Indian Award, which is worth $50, 000, is given each year to a prominent Indian who has made a major mark in his or her chosen field. Her husband Narayana Murthy too got the same award in 2014, so they became first couple conferred with this award. She donated the sum to the Field Institute (

University of Toronto The University of Toronto (UToronto or U of T) is a public university, public research university whose main campus is located on the grounds that surround Queen's Park (Toronto), Queen's Park in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It was founded by ...

Bibliography

Books

Kannada * ''Computer lokadalli (2000)'' * ''Hakkiya Teradali (2003)'' * ''Guttondu Heluve (2006)'' * ''Saamaanyralli Asaamaanyaru (2006)'' * ''Athirikthe (2007)'' * ''Tumula (2007)'' * ''Yashasvi (2007)'' * ''Runa (2008)'' * ''Sukeshini Mattu Itara Makkala Kathegalu (2008)'' * ''Paridhi (2009)'' * ''Yerilitada Daariyalli (2017)'' * ''Kaveri inda Mekaangige'' * ''Nooniya Sahasagalu'' Marathi * ''Astitva (2002)'' English * ''Wise and Otherwise'' ''(2002)'' * '' Mahashweta (2002)'' * '' How I Taught My Grandmother to Read and Other Stories (2004)'' * ''The Old Man And His God (2006)'' * ''Gently Falls The Bakula (2008)'' * ''The Bird with Golden Wings (2009)'' * ''The Day I Stopped Drinking Milk (2012)'' * ''Grandma's Bag of Stories (2012)'' * ''House of Cards (2013)'' * '' Dollar Bahu (2013)'' * ''The Magic Drum and Other Favorite Stories (2013)'' * ''The Mother I Never Knew (2014)'' * ''Something Happened on the Way To Heavens (2014)'' * ''The Magic of the Lost Temple (2015)'' * ''The Serpent's Revenge (2016)'' * '' Three Thousand Stitches (2017)'' * ''The Man from the Egg (2017)'' * ''Here, There, Everywhere (2018)'' * ''The Upside Down King (2018)'' * ''How The Sea Became Salty (2019)'' * ''The Daughter From A Wishing Tree (2019)'' * ''How The Onion got its layers (2020)'' * ''Grandparents Bag of Stories (2020)'' * ''The Gopi Diaries: Coming Home (2020)'' * ''The Gopi Diaries: Finding Love (2021)'' * ''The Sage With Two Horns (2021)'' * ''The Gopi Diaries: Growing Up (2022)'' * ''Common yet uncommon (2023)'' * ''The Magic of the Lost story (2022)''

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Murty, Sudha 1951 births 20th-century Indian engineers 20th-century Indian novelists 20th-century Indian women scientists 20th-century Indian women writers 20th-century women engineers 21st-century Indian engineers 21st-century Indian novelists 21st-century Indian women scientists 21st-century Indian women writers 21st-century women engineers Educators from Karnataka Engineers from Karnataka English-language writers from India Indian children's writers Indian computer scientists Indian Institute of Science alumni Indian women children's writers Indian women computer scientists Indian women engineers Indian women novelists Kannada people Kannada-language writers Karnatak University alumni Living people Murthy family Novelists from Karnataka People from Haveri district Recipients of the Padma Bhushan in social work Recipients of the Padma Shri in social work Scientists from Bengaluru Social workers from Karnataka Women educators from Karnataka Women scientists from Karnataka Women writers from Karnataka Writers from Bengaluru