An excellent and Great Love Story of Narayana Murthy (Infosys Founder) and Sudha (From Sudha's Autobiography)

An Inspiring Love story,, its worth, Read it !!Love Story of Narayana Murthy (Infosys Founder) and Sudha (From Sudha's Autobiography)It was in Pune that I met Narayan Murty through my friend Prasanna who is now the Wipro chief, who was also training in Telco(TataMotors). Most of the books that Prasanna lent me had Murty's name on them which meant that I had a preconceived image of the man. Contrary to expectation, Murty was shy,bespectacled and an introvert. When he invited us for dinner. I was a bit taken aback as I thought the young man was making a very fast move. I refused since I was the only girl in the group. But Murty was relentless and we all decided to meet for dinner the next day at 7.30 p.m .. at Green Fields hotel on theMain Road,Pune.The next day I went there at 7' o ! clock since I had to go to the tailor near the hotel. And what do I see? Mr. Murty waiting in front of the hotel and it was only seven. Till today, Murty maintains that I had mentioned (consciously!) that I would be going to the tailor at 7 so that I could meet him... And I maintain that I did not say any such thing consciously or unconsciously because I did not think of Murty as anything other than a friend at that stage. We have agreed to disagree on this matter.Soon, we became friends. Our conversations were filled with Murty's experiences abroad and the books that he has read. My friends insisted that Murty as trying to impress me because he was interested in me. I kept denying it till one fine day, after dinner Murty said, I want to tell you something. I kn ew this as it. It was coming. He said, I am 5'4" tall. I come from a lower middle class family. I can never become rich in my life an! d I can never give you any riches. You are beautiful, bright, and intelligent and you can get anyone you want. But will you marry me? I asked Murty to give me some time for an answer. My father didn't want me to marry a wannabe politician, (a communist at that) who didn't have a steady job and wanted to build an orphanage...When I went to Hubli I told my parents about Murty and his proposal. My mother was positive since Murty was also from Karnataka, seemed intelligent and comes from a good family. But my father asked: What's his job, his salary, his qualifications etc? Murty was working as a research assistant and was earning less than me. He was willing to go dutch with me on our outings. My parents agreed to meet Murty in Pune on a particular day at10 a. m sharp. Murty did not turn up. How can I trust a man to take care of my daughter if he cannot keep an appointment, asked my father.At 12noon Murty turned up in a bright red shirt! He had gone on work to Bombay , was stuck in a traffic jam on the ghats, so he hired a taxi(though it was very expensive for him) to meet his would-be father-in-law. Father was unimpressed. My father asked him what he wanted to become in life.Murty said he wanted to become a politician in the communist party and wanted to open an orphanage. My father gave his verdict. NO. I don't want my daughter to marry somebody who wants to become a communist and then open an orphanage when he himself didn't have money to support his family.Ironically, today, I have opened many orphanages something, which Murty wanted to do 25 years ago. By this time I realized I had developed a liking towards Murty which could only be termed as love. I wanted to marry Murty because he is an honest man. He proposed to me highlighting the negatives in his life. I promised my father that I will not marry Murty without his blessings though at the same time, I cannot marry anybody else. My father said he would agree if Murty promised to take up a steady job. But Murty refused saying he will not do things in life because somebody wanted him to. So, I was caught between the two most important people in my life..The stalemate continued for three years during which our courtship took us to every restaurant and cinema hall in Pune. In those days, Murty was always broke. Moreover, he didn't earn much to manage. Ironically today, he manages Infosys Technologies Ltd., one of the world's most reputed companies. He always owed me money. We used to go for dinner and he would say, I don't have money with me, you pay my share, I will return it to you later. For three years I maintained a book on Murty's debt to me.. No, he never returned the money and I finally tore it up after my wedding.The amount was a little over Rs 4000. During this interim period Murty quit his job as research assistant and started his own software business. Now, I had to pay his salary too! Towards the late 70s computers were entering India in a big way.During the fag end of 1977 Murty decided to take up a job as General Manager at Patni computers in Bombay .. But before he joined the company he wanted to marry me since he was to go on training to the US after joining. My father gave in as he was happy Murty had a decent job, now.WE WERE MARRIED IN MURTY'S HOUSE IN BANGALORE ON FEBRUARY 10, 1978 WITH ONLY OUR TWO FAMILIES PRESENT.I GOT MY FIRST SILK SARI. THE WEDDING EXPENSES CAME TO ONLY RS 800 (US $17) WITH MURTY AND I POOLING IN RS 400 EACH.I went to the US with Murty after marriage. Murty encouraged me to see America on my own because I loved travelling. I toured America for three months on backpack and had interesting experiences which will remain fresh in my mind forever. Like the time when the New York police took me into custody because they thought I was an Italian trafficking drugs in Harlem . Or the time when I spent the night at the bottom of the Grand Canyon with an old couple. Murty panicked because he couldn't get a response from my hotel room even at midnight. He thought I was either killed or kidnapped.IN 1981 MURTY WANTED TO START INFOSYS. HE HAD A VISION AND ZERO CAPITAL...initially I was very apprehensive about Murty getting into business. We did not have any business background ... Moreover we were living a comfortable life in Bombay with a regular pay check and I didn't want to rock the boat. But Murty was passionate about creating good quality software. I decided to support him.. Typical of Murty, he just had a dream and no money. So I gave him Rs 10,000 which I had saved for a rainy day, without his knowledge and told him, This is all I have. Take it. I give you three years sabbatical leave. I will take care of thefinancial needs of our house. You go and chase your dreams without any worry. But youhave only three years!Murty and his six colleagues started Infosys in 1981,with enormous interest and hard work. In 1982 I left Telco and moved to Pune with Murty. We bought a small house on loan which also became the Infosys office. I was a clerk-cum-cook-cum-programmer. I also took up a job as Senior Systems Analyst with Walchand group of Industries to support the house.In 1983 Infosys got their first client, MICO, in Bangalore . Murty moved to Bangalore and stayed with his mother while I went to Hubli to deliver my second child, Rohan. Ten days after my son was born, Murty left for the US on project work. I saw him only after a year, as I was unable to join Murty in the US because my son had infantile eczema, an allergy to vaccinations. So for more than a year I did not step outside our home for fear of my son contracting an infection. It was only after Rohan got all his vaccinations that I came to Bangalore where we rented a small house in Jayanagar and rented another house as Infosys headquarters. My fatherpresented Murty a scooter to commute. I once again became a cook, programmer, clerk,secretary, office assistant et al. Nandan Nilekani (MD of Infosys) and his wife Rohini stayed with us. While Rohini babysat my son, I wrote programs for Infosys. There was no car, no phone, and just two kids and a bunch of us working hard, juggling our lives and having fun while Infosys was taking shape. It was not only me but also the wives of other partners too who gave their unstinted support. We all knew that our men were trying to build something good.It was like a big joint family,taking care and looking out for one another. I still remember Sudha Gopalakrishna looking after my daughter Akshata with all care and love while Kumari Shibulal cooked for all of us. Murty made it very clear that it would either be me or him working at Infosys. Never the two of us together... I was involved with Infosys initially.Nandan Nilekani suggested I should be on the Board but Murty said he did not want a husband and wife team at Infosys. I was shocked since I had the relevant experience and technical qualifications. He said, Sudha if you want to work with Infosys, I will withdraw, happily. I was pained to know that I will not be involved in the company my husband was building and that I would have to give up a job that I am qualified to do and love doing.It took me a couple of days to grasp the reason behind Murty's request..I realized that to make Infosys a success one had to give one's 100 percent.. One had to be focussed on it alone with no other distractions. If the two of us had to give 100 percent to Infosys then what would happen to our home and our children? One of us had to take care of our home while the other took care of Infosys.I opted to be a homemaker, after all Infosys was Murty's dream. It was a big sacrifice but it was one that had to be made. Even today, Murty says, Sudha, I stepped on your career to make mine. You are responsible for my success...

the amazing youth

Youth is amazing,

I wish the world would see,

Just how beautiful we are,

How compassionate we can be.

I wish they could take back,

All the cynical things they’ve said,

And see how much we shine, be positive instead.

Remark on our radiant smiles,

And the differences we make,

All of the people our lives touch,

All of the chances that we take.

Notice how we change ,

Each and every day,

Wanting to leave childhood n teenage,

Yet desperately wanting to stay.

I wish they could remember,

How tough our lives can be,

The promises that are broken,

The violence that we see.

Yet still we venture onward,

Unsure of where the road may lead,

Hoping they will take notice,

Hoping they’ll take heed,

Of the changes that we’ve made,

Of the power that we hold,

Of the wisdom we have hidden,

Of the stories yet untold.

I hope the world will notice,

What some have already seen,

Youth are amazing people ,

Striving to follow their dreams.

It seems to me that everyone under 25 is obsessed with three things in India. They are

1. IPL
2. Chetan Bhagat’s new novel and
3. Orkut.

I don’t blame them for the first two since even above 25 are obsessed with them . But I can’t understand the lure of Orkut. Orkut is considered as a social networking website where you can catch up with your friends but I have found that people who were considered as serial murders during college have friend list crossing 100 (I have less than 150 friends).

Its surprising that orkut is helping people discover friends with whom they rarely spoke but made a point to share sutta. Boys who were scared even to ask for notes from gals are scrapping them as if they were his best buddies in college. (And the buddy added in the friend list is busy scraping the same gal). If u ask me, Orkut has launched a revolution by making Indians realize that its a national duty to have atleast 100 pals and to scrap atleast 10 people a day.

But what I am unable to understand is the role played by offices and colleges in this national movement of friendliness. Where ever I have gone orkut has been banned . Even proxy servers are unable to help us to perform our duty. Offices are treating orkut as a nuisance where employees spend precious resources by sending long scraps to people who reply with “HI. How r u?” or “Fine”. I am unable to understand the mentality of management. Do they think by banning orkut they will be able to make employees work. I doubt it. What didn’t work in last 3 years is not expected to work ever .But I don’t want to blame the management, they can make mistakes while going through tedious process of making stupid decisions , playing golf and finding scape goats for their poor decisions.

What I really have objection against are the-colleges. Why are they unable to acknowledge that how important is for student to scrap people whom they share bench before and after lunch. It seems colleges have underestimated their ability to churn out students without any employable skills. It is this network and not kotler or Theraja’s or Boylsted which will help them to achieve their monthly target of insurance/profits, or locate a fault or design an RE model etc. J

To conclude -

It seems that youngsters are obsessed with orkut and oldies with preventing them from doing so J. Hence I would request you to follow the age old dictum. Love (Scrap) thy neighbor; but don’t get caught.

WINNER

“ you can complain because roses have thorns, or you can rejoice because thorns have roses”

I am a winner

I have beaten odds to get where I am today.

I have felt some pain every time I have walked another step forward, yet after having taken one step back , I have known the regression and giving up were not options for me. I have felt the emptiness of separation as I have moved in the wrong direction.

I have learned the arts persistence , tenacity and dedication. I know how it feels to watch my world and dreams shatter to a million pieces at my feet. I know what it is to run until there is nothing left inside of me , and then run some more.

I know how it feels to be loved, and I know how it feels when the love grows hard and cold.

I know how to be happy . I know how to smile and spread joy into lives of others with that same smile.

I have learned that one conversation can make or break a fragile mind and heart, and thus I have learned to chose my words carefully.

I know that enthusiasm is the key to everything, and yet I know how it feels to completely lack enthusiasm.

I have learned that winning is not everything, but sometimes it feels like it is the most important thing. I have learned that the other colour ribbons only prove to make that blue so much sweeter. I know that my chief competitor is always myself.

I know that sometimes my best isn’t good enough for others and that people can be cruel. I know that sometimes I get frustrated with myself, specially when others get frustrated with me.

I know how it feels to have something mean so much to me that it is me. I have experienced wrath , outrage and fury, but have still made it through the storm as a survivor.

I know what it is to love. I know how to spread joy and how to extract it from even the darkest situations.

I know what is hope is, and I rely on it as my last refuge.i know that darkness must exist if only to make those tiny bits of light seem that much brighter.

I know that success is self made , and that luck is a relative term.

I know that I am strong.

I know that miracles do exist, angels do find us in our hour of need, and there is always something behind me , pushing me forward.

I believe in myself at all times, even when I think that I don’t and even when I feel like no one else does.

I know how it feels to be lost .I also know how it feels to be picked out of a crowd . what it is like to be the winner, and how it feels when ,for one moment, you are the star of the show.

Above all , though, I know that all of this has made me ME .

I know that being a winner is not about winning whatever race faces me in the moment. I recognize I am winning just by pushing myself everyday and by waking up each morning feeling blessed by the day that lies ahead of me. Through this I am winning in the most important race ever, the race I entered at birth—this race we call LIFE.

ME AGAINST MYSELF

Why are we so alone? This is the question I ask myself frequently.

But we aren't!!!!!!!!what with all those people around us -our family, friends, colleagues, acquaintances and even strangers- in fact we are surrounded by a sea of humanity.

Yes we are! the sea of humanity is nowhere to be seen if you look carefully enough. The decisions we make are our own, the upheavals our mind goes through day in and day out are felt by none but ourselves, only our heart bears the testimony to the blows it is subjected to, in none of our endeavours the sea of humanity makes it presence felt.

C'mon man! don't we celebrate with our family and friends with utter joy and undying fervour, are they not around to relieve us of our sorrows, and aren't they the same people we look for advice when in moments of contemplation. These gems are the reasons our lives sparkle so bright , they make this stupid world worth living in (this last line is lifted and adapted).

Where does the sparkle vanish when the shadows emerge? When the destiny plays its sinister plan and throws us into a blackhole of never-ending struggle, the only people who emerge are the naysayers proclaiming sarcastically "didn't-i-say-so".The trust is lost, the confidence is lost, the spirit is lost; what is not lost is life- life,whose weight we must drag along on our solitary shoulders through the rocky terrain before us.

The struggle gives meaning to life. The struggle which tires us, saps us out of our breaths, ready to crush us into a million small shards of nothingness also polishes us, works like a sculptor with his chisel shaping us up in perfect symmetry to bring up a masterpiece. And after all that sweat drenched time when we come back home to witness the pride glowing on our father's face, the pent-up unconditional love of our mother being showered on us in enormity, the mischievious curl of our brothers' lips saying more than any words can and the open arms of our friends beckoning us with all the gusto- then what we experience is pure elation, an elation which lifts us off the ground and leaves us light as a feather.

But when the sculptor deals us a brutal blow and what is left is broken pieces of what could have been a masterpiece but now is a pile of uncomprehensible shapes. When this happens then we come back home to not pride, not smiles, not gusto, no not any of the above but only dissapointment and sighs, drooping lips and drooping shoulders. We can feel the sharp gaze of the world boring through our body, making us scream which they are silent to because they only heed success. The brutal world does not recognise philosphy, this cruel monster calls a failure "Failure" and not "A-stepping-stone-to-success", and it distances itself as far as it can from us.

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THE ARGUEMENT SEEMS TO HAVE NO END. I REQUEST MY FRIENDS TO PUT FORWARD A FITTING CONCLUSION TO IT - IT MAY BE EITHER WAY.

BESIDES THIS YOUR VIEWS ARE ALWAYS WELCOME, IN FORM OF COMMENTS, ON THE PIECE ITSELF.

NRI's & NANDIGRAM

74 NRIs, belonging to a diverse group of academics, professionals, lawyers, activists and students, many of them volunteers and supporters of the organization - Association for India's Development – have filed a collective Right to Information application at the Indian Embassy in Washington DC.

The Questions raised are the following:

ü Have demanded information on the number of people killed or injured in the current spate of violence since November 4;

ü The reasons for delay in the protection of citizens and human rights activists who tried to visit the area;

ü The number of police force deployed in the area;

ü The actions taken by the government to restore peace, provide relief, rehabilitate the displaced villagers, and book the criminals who perpetrated the ghastly acts of violence and those who blocked the entry of media-persons and CRPF jawans in Nandigram;

ü The status of land-acquisition and the SEZ project in the area.

What is commendable is NRI’s who we think as runaway dream chasers are doing real good work by doing their bit by demanding accountability from the pathetically rotten system.

But my question is.... A Govt. which can kill mercilessly & commit Genocide at will -----

WILL IT CARE TO EVEN ANSWER THE RTI..? umm............. I dunno...what do you say..?

The UNTOUCHABLE

The untouchables

She , the high born one’

on her way to the righteous temple

gathers the ends of her flowing sari

around the pristine ankles

as she passes me

muttering prayers

cautious in her dislike

she edges past

I ,the untouchable smile!

He , the chosen one

From the pinnacles of height

The pretentious pinnacles of education

Looks down –down and down

What along way it is!

Looks down at me

I who carries the burden of his waste

The scavenger , the ragpicker , the undertaker

He wrinkles his roman nose

the delicate nostrils flare

I ,the shunned one , smile

The politician inspects

He probes, ponders pontificates

He shakes his head wisely

Waxes eloquent on my miserable state

Thunderous applause,acclainm , accolades.

Follow in wake of such wisdom.

Unseen Unknown Unacknowledged

Amongst the debris of the great

I trudge wearily but

I,the unknown hero smile.