Early Days of Infosys

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Early Days Of Infosys and

Narayan Murthy

Mr. and Mrs.Murthy with Mr. amd Mrs Nilekani


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Early Days Of Infosys and

Narayan Murthy

In the Words of Ms.Sudha Murthy herself:It was in Pune that I metNarayan Murthy through my friend Prasanna who is now the Wiprochief, who was also training in Telco. Most of the books thatPrasanna lent me had Murthy's name on them which meant that Ihad a preconceived image of the man.Contrary to expectation,

Murthy was shy, bespectacled and an introvert. When he invited usfor dinner... I was a bit taken aback as I thought the young man wasmaking a very fast move. I refused since I was the only girl in thegroup. But Murthy 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 goto the tailor near the hotel. And what do I see? Mr. Murthy waiting in

front of the hotel and it was only seven. Till today, Murthy maintainsthat I had mentioned (consciously!) that I would be going to the tailorat 7 so that I could meet him. And I maintain that I did not say anysuch thing consciously or unconsciously because I did not think ofMurthy as anything other than a friend at that stage. We haveagreed to disagree on this matter


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Soon, we became friends. Our conversations were filled withMurthy's experiences abroad and the books that he has read. Myfriends insisted that Murthy was trying to impress me because hewas interested in me. I kept denying it till one fine day, after dinnerMurthy said,I want to tell you something. I knew this was it. It was

coming. He said, I am 5'4" tall. I come from a lower middle class family. I cannever become rich in my life and I can never give you any riches.You are beautiful, bright, and intelligent and you can get anyone youwant. But will you marry me? I asked Murthy to give me some timefor an answer. My father didn't want me to marry a wannabepolitician,(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 Murthy and his

proposal. My mother was positive since Murthy was also fromKarnataka, seemed intelligent and comes from a good family. Butmy father asked: What's his job, his salary, his qualifications etc?


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Murthy was working as a research assistant and wasearning less than me. He was willing to go dutch with meon our outings. My parents agreed to meet Murthy inPune on a particular day at 10 a. m sharp. Murthy did not

turn up.H

ow canI

trust a man to take care of mydaughter if he cannot keep an appointment, asked myfather. At 12noon Murthy turned up in a bright red shirt!He had gone on work to Bombay, was stuck in a trafficjam on the ghats, so he hired a taxi(though it was veryexpensive for him) to meet his would-be father-in-law.

Father was unimpressed. My father asked him what hewanted to become in life. Murthy said he wanted tobecome a politician in the communist party and wantedto open an orphanage.


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My father gave his verdict. NO. I don't want my daughter to marrysomebody who wants to become a communist and then open anorphanage when he himself didn't have money to support his family.

Ironically, today, I have opened many orphanages something, whichMurthy wanted to do 25 years ago. By this time I realized I had

developed a liking towards Murthy which could only be termed aslove. I wanted to marry Murthy because he is an honest man. Heproposed to me highlighting the negatives in his life. I promised myfather that I will not marry Murthy without his blessings though at thesame time, I cannot marry anybody else. My father said he wouldagree if Murthy promised to take up a steady job. But Murthyrefused saying he will not do things in life because somebody

wanted him to. So, I was caught between the two most importantpeople in my life.


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The stalemate continued for three years during which our courtshiptook us to every restaurant and cinema hall in Pune. In those days,Murthy was always broke. Moreover, he didn't earn much tomanage. 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 wouldsay, I don't have money with me, you pay my share, I will return it toyou later. For three years I maintained a book on Murthy's debt tome.. No, he never returned the money and I finally tore it up after mywedding. The amount was a little over Rs 4000. During this interimperiod Murthy quit his job as research assistant and started his ownsoftware business. Now, I had to pay his salary too! Towards the

late 70s computers were entering India in a big way.


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During the fag end of 1977 Murthy decided to take up a job as GeneralManager at Patni Computers in Bombay.But before he joined the companyhe wanted to marry me since he was to go on training to the US afterjoining.

My father gave in as he was happy Murthy had a decent job, now we weremarried in Murthy's house in Bangalore on February 10, 1978 with only our

two families present. I got my first silk sari. the wedding expenses came toonly Rs. 800 (US $17) with Murthy and I pooling in Rs. 400 each .

I went to the US with Murthy after marriage. Murthy encouraged me to seeAmerica on my own because I loved traveling. I toured America for threemonths on backpack and had interesting experiences which will remainfresh in my mind forever. Like the time when the New York police took me

into custody because they thoughtIwas an

Italian trafficking drugs inHarlem. Or the time when I spent the night at the bottom of the Grand

Canyon with an old couple. Murthy panicked because he couldn't get aresponse from my hotel room even at midnight. He thought I was eitherkilled or kidnapped.


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IN 1981 MURTHY WANTED TO START INFOSYS. HE HAD AVISION AND ZERO CAPITAL...initially I was very apprehensiveabout Murthy getting into business. We did not have any businessbackground.. Moreover we were living a comfortable life in Bombaywith a regular pay check and I didn't want to rock the boat. But

Murthy was passionate about creating good quality software.I

decided to support him. Typical of Murthy, 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 knowledgeand told him, This is all I have. Take it. I give you three yearssabbatical leave. I will take care of the financial needs of our house.You go and chase your dreams without any worry. But you have

only three years!


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IN 1981 MURTHY WANTED TO START INFOSYS. HE HAD AVISION AND ZERO CAPITAL...initially I was very apprehensiveabout Murthy getting into business. We did not have any businessbackground.. Moreover we were living a comfortable life in Bombaywith a regular pay check and I didn't want to rock the boat. ButMurthy was passionate about creating good quality software. Idecided to support him.

Typical of Murthy, he just had a dream and no money. So I gave himRs 10,000 which I had saved for a rainy day, without his knowledgeand told him, This is all I have. Take it. I give you three yearssabbatical leave. I will take care of the financial needs of our house.You go and chase your dreams without any worry. But you have

only three years!


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My father presented Murthy a scooter to commute. Ionce again became a cook, programmer, clerk,secretary, office assistant et al. Nandan Nilekani (MD ofInfosys) and his wife Rohini stayed with us. While Rohini

babysat my son, I wrote programs forInfosys. There wasno car, no phone, and just two kids and a bunch of usworking hard, juggling our lives and having fun whileInfosys was taking shape. It was not only me but also thewives of other partners too who gave their unstinted

support. We all knew that our men were trying to buildsomething good.


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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 Shibulalcooked for all of us.. Murthy made it very clear that it would either beme or him working at Infosys. Never the two of us together... I wasinvolved with Infosys initially.

Nandan Nilekani suggested I should be on the Board but Murthysaid he did not want a husband and wife team at Infosys. I wasshocked since I had the relevant experience and technicalqualifications. He said, Sudha if you want to work with Infosys, I willwithdraw, happily. I was pained to know that I will not be involved inthe company my husband was building and that I would have to give

up a job that I am qualified to do and love doing.


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It took me a couple of days to grasp the reason behind Murthy'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 totake care of our home while the other took care ofInfosys. I opted tobe a homemaker, after all Infosys was Murthy's dream. It was a bigsacrifice but it was one that had to be made. Even today, Murthysays, Sudha, I stepped on your career to make mine. You areresponsible for my success. I might have given up my career for myhusband's sake.

But that does not make me a doormat


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Early Days of Infosys