Sudha Murthy

19 Aug, 1950 | Shiggaon, Karnataka

Actress

Biography

Padma Shri Sudha Kulkarni Murthy (Kannada: ಸುಧಾ ಮೂರ್ತಿ) is an Indian social worker and author. She is known for her philanthropic work through the Infosys Foundation. Among other things, she has initiated a move to provide all government schools in Karnataka with computer and library facilities. She also teaches computer science and writes fiction. Dollar Sose (Dollar daughter-in-law), a book originally she wrote in Kannada and later translated to English as Dollar Bahu was adopted as a television serial in 2001. Early life She did B.E. in Electrical Engineering from the B.V.B. College of Engineering & Technology, Hubli. She stood first in Karnataka for which she received a gold medal from the Chief Minister of Karnataka. She also completed her M.Tech. in Computer Science in 1974 from the Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore, stood first in her class and received a gold medal from the Indian Institute of Engineers. She was also the first woman engineer to be selected in Telco (now Tata Motors), Pune. She had written a postcard to JRD Tata complaining of the gender bias in Tata Motors (Telco then had a men-only policy) and she was invited for a special interview by Tata Motors. She was living in Pune from 1974–1981, later she moved to Mumbai. It was her savings of Rs. 10,000 that was instrumental in the founding of Infosys; N.R. Narayana Murthy proudly mentions this fact on several occasions. Mrs. Murthy has written many stories, mostly published by Penguin, which deal with common lives and her views on donations, hospitality and realisation. Some of them include Sweet Hospitality and Wise and Otherwise. She also focuses on social works and her husband Narayana Murthy's achievements.