let us learn from early life of Narayan Murti and how his wife made him to the top

Sudha Rohini Nilekani Kumari ShibulalAn 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 (FromSudha's Autobiography)It was in Pune that I met Narayan Murty through my friend Prasanna whois 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 whichmeant that I had a preconceived image of the man. Contrary toexpectation, Murty was shy,bespectacled and an introvert. When heinvited us for dinner. I was a bit taken aback as I thought the youngman was making a very fast move. I refused since I was the only girlin the group. But Murty was relentless and we all decided to meet fordinner the next day at 7.30 p.m .. at Green Fields hotel on the MainRoad ,Pune.The next day I went there at 7' o ! clock since I had to go to thetailor near the hotel. And what do I see? Mr. Murty waiting in frontof the hotel and it was only seven. Till today, Murty maintains that Ihad mentioned (consciously! ) that I would be going to the tailor at 7so that I could meet him... And I maintain that I did not say any suchthing consciously or unconsciously because I did not think of Murty asanything other than a friend at that stage. We have agreed to disagreeon this matter.Soon, we became friends. Our conversations were filled with Murty'sexperiences abroad and the books that he has read. My friends insistedthat Murty as trying to impress me because he was interested in me. Ikept denying it till one fine day, after dinner Murty said, I want totell you something. I knew this as it. It was coming. He said, I am5'4" tall. I come from a lower middle class family. I can never becomerich in my life an! d I can never give you any riches. You arebeautiful, bright, and intelligent and you can get anyone you want.But will you marry me? I asked Murty to give me some time for ananswer. My father didn't want me to marry a wannabe politician, (acommunist at that) who didn't have a steady job and wanted to build anorphanage...When I went to Hubli I told my parents about Murty and his proposal.My mother was positive since Murty was also from Karnataka, seemedintelligent and comes from a good family. But my father asked: What'shis job, his salary, his qualifications etc? Murty was working as aresearch assistant and was earning less than me. He was willing to godutch with me on our outings. My parents agreed to meet Murty in Puneon a particular day at10 a. m sharp. Murty did not turn up. How can Itrust a man to take care of my daughter if he cannot keep anappointment, asked my father.At 12noon Murty turned up in a bright red shirt! He had gone on workto Bombay , was stuck in a traffic jam on the ghats, so he hired ataxi(though it was very expensive for him) to meet his would-befather-in-law. Father was unimpressed. My father asked him what hewanted to become in life.Murty said he wanted to become a politician in the communist party andwanted to open an orphanage. My father gave his verdict. NO. I don'twant my daughter to marry somebody who wants to become a communist andthen open an orphanage when he himself didn't have money to supporthis family.Ironically, today, I have opened many orphanages something, whichMurty wanted to do 25 years ago. By this time I realized I haddeveloped a liking towards Murty which could only be termed as love. Iwanted to marry Murty because he is an honest man. He proposed to mehighlighting the negatives in his life.. I promised my father that Iwill not marry Murty without his blessings though at the same time, Icannot marry anybody else. My father said he would agree if Murtypromised to take up a steady job. But Murty refused saying he will notdo things in life because somebody wanted him to. So, I was caughtbetween the two most important people in my life.The stalemate continued for three years during which our courtshiptook 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 theworld's most reputed companies. He always owed me money. We used to gofor dinner and he would say, I don't have money with me, you pay myshare, I will return it to you later. For three years I maintained abook on Murty's debt to me.. No, he never returned the money and Ifinally tore it up after my wedding.The amount was a little over Rs 4000. During this interim period Murtyquit his job as research assistant and started his own softwarebusiness. Now, I had to pay his salary too! Towards the late 70scomputers were entering India in a big way.During the fag end of 1977 Murty decided to take up a job as GeneralManager at Patni computers in Bombay .. But before he joined thecompany he wanted to marry me since he was to go on training to the USafter joining. My father gave in as he was happy Murty had a decentjob, now.WE WERE MARRIED IN MURTY'S HOUSE IN BANGALORE ON FEBRUARY 10, 1978WITH ONLY OUR TWO FAMILIES PRESENT.I GOT MY FIRST SILK SARI. THEWEDDING EXPENSES CAME TO ONLY RS 800 (US $17) WITH MURTY AND I POOLINGIN RS 400 EACH..I went to the US with Murty after marriage. Murty encouraged me to seeAmerica on my own because I loved travelling. I toured America forthree months on backpack and had interesting experiences which willremain fresh in my mind forever. Like the time when the New Yorkpolice took me into custody because they thought I was an Italiantrafficking drugs in Harlem . Or the time when I spent the night atthe bottom of the Grand Canyon with an old couple. Murty panickedbecause he couldn't get a response from my hotel room even atmidnight. He thought I was either killed or kidnapped.IN 1981 MURTY WANTED TO START INFOSYS. HE HAD A VISION AND ZEROCAPITAL...initially I was very apprehensive about Murty getting intobusiness. We did not have any business background ... Moreover we wereliving a comfortable life in Bombay with a regular pay check and Ididn't want to rock the boat. But Murty was passionate about creatinggood quality software. I decided to support him. Typical of Murty, hejust had a dream and no money. So I gave him Rs 10,000 which I hadsaved for a rainy day, without his knowledge and told him, This is allI have. Take it. I give you three years sabbatical leave. I will takecare of thefinancial needs of our house. You go and chase your dreams without anyworry. But youhave only three years!Murty and his six colleagues started Infosys in 1981,with enormousinterest and hard work. In 1982 I left Telco and moved to Pune withMurty. We bought a small house on loan which also became the Infosysoffice. I was a clerk-cum-cook- cum-programmer. I also took up a job asSenior Systems Analyst with Walchand group of Industries to supportthe house.In 1983 Infosys got their first client, MICO, in Bangalore . Murtymoved to Bangalore and stayed with his mother while I went to Hubli todeliver my second child, Rohan. Ten days after my son was born, Murtyleft for the US on project work. I saw him only after a year, as I wasunable to join Murty in the US because my son had infantile eczema, anallergy to vaccinations. So for more than a year I did not stepoutside our home for fear of my son contracting an infection. It wasonly after Rohan got all his vaccinations that I came to Bangalorewhere we rented a small house in Jayanagar and rented another house asInfosys 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) andhis wife Rohini stayed with us. While Rohini babysat my son, I wroteprograms for Infosys. There was no car, no phone, and just two kidsand a bunch of us working hard, juggling our lives and having funwhile Infosys was taking shape. It was not only me but also the wivesof other partners too who gave their unstinted support. We all knewthat our men were trying to build something good.It was like a big joint family,taking care and looking out for oneanother. I still remember Sudha Gopalakrishna looking after mydaughter Akshata with all care and love while Kumari Shibulal cookedfor all of us. Murty made it very clear that it would either be me orhim working at Infosys. Never the two of us together... I was involvedwith Infosys initially.Nandan Nilekani suggested I should be on the Board but Murty said hedid not want a husband and wife team at Infosys. I was shocked since Ihad the relevant experience and technical qualifications. He said,Sudha if you want to work with Infosys, I will withdraw, happily. Iwas pained to know that I will not be involved in the company myhusband was building and that I would have to give up a job that I amqualified to do and love doing.It took me a couple of days to grasp the reason behind Murty'srequest..I realized that to make Infosys a success one had to giveone's 100 percent. One had to be focussed on it alone with no otherdistractions. If the two of us had to give 100 percent to Infosys thenwhat would happen to our home and our children? One of us had to takecare of our home while the other took care of Infosys.I opted to be a homemaker, after all Infosys was Murty's dream. It wasa big sacrifice but it was one that had to be made. Even today, Murtysays, Sudha, I stepped on your career to make mine. You areresponsible for my success.That's the Power of Love.Every man needs a woman to motivate him and to give him a reason tolive.. It maybe your mother, sister or wife. Cherish them..