Wise And Otherwise, A Salute to Life By Sudha Murthy

I find it very hard to ignore bookstores and usually walk out of them clutching a book or even a CD or DVD, now that these stores stock all that and may also sell you coffee and snacks while you browse.

My latest acquisition is this book by Sudha Murthy, “Mrs. Infosys” and wife of Mr.Narayanamurthy who set up and made Infosys the success that it is. I have to admit that who she was definitely proved to be the bait that lured me into wanting to know what a lady of that type would write about.
The book has fifty one succinct chapters, each in simple prose, painting pictures of keenly observed incidents from Mrs. Murthy life.

Her words of dedication, “To the ‘shirtless people of India’ who have taught me so much about my country”, pave the way to lead the reader through many events, some of them connected to philanthropic work being done by the Infosys Foundation of which she is a trustee. But wait, this is definitely not a self-promotional exercise to puff herself and Infosys off to an unsuspecting public. Her views include many other events that are very down to earth and clear-eyed, focusing only on what she felt, whether she was visiting a neighbour to pay a condolence visit or attending an inaugural function along with a crass netha and his sycophants.

Her husband and she are reputed to lead unostentatious personal lives with none of the acquired trappings of sudden and immense wealth. One can believe that after reading this book.

Some of what she writes is shocking, like “In India, the worst of both worlds” where she deals with hidden tragedy after the death of an old man whom she helped to place in a home for the destitute. Other anecdotes are quite uplifting and remind the reader that there is hope after all, through unsinkable minds and indomitable courage that exist, quite improbably, at even at very ordinary and unsung levels in this vast India. A very poor coolie’s son who gets a Karnataka state rank in the SSLC school final exams despite every possible impediment thrown up by abject poverty or the robust optimism of a fisher woman’s little son in Orissa.

Humour gleams from several situations like the tie she overhears the conversation of a couple of analytical marriage brokers or tries to raise funds from a mean-minded richy-rich woman who probably did not realize who the simply dressed Sudha was. The encounter with the flower seller who treats her junior, male assistant as a more moneyed prospective customer than Mrs. Murthy is quite an eye-opener to the general public’s opinion about the prosperity ushered in by the IT industry.

Some chapters are sharp commentaries on the well-off as well.

There is the woman who curses her recently dead mother-in-law while fawning over Mrs. Murthy as an honored guest and pushing to get admission for her son at the college where Mrs. Murthy teaches. “The price of jealousy” highlights a character that most of us must have met somewhere. She also describes an enlightening visit to an aunt’s ladies club. Her deep interest in women’s issues such as dowry deaths, education, marital problems, prostitution and much more is also very evident.

Obviously, Sudha Murthy’s life has brought her in contact with almost every segment of society in India, from nouveau riche, high society and politicians to the destitute and lepers. This is a very rich storehouse which she willingly shares with the reader. Mrs. Murthy is patently proud of her small town upbringing and teaching background. Her conclusions and comments show that she has remained very honest to her beliefs, human and humane despite being so close to big business and big money which are said to often have a very corrupting influence, in general.

But at times, her words did make me feel like I was a scrubby school girl again, listening to a strict, well-loved Math teacher telling me what’s what. This feeling of being scolded, however lovingly, could have become a little overbearing if Mrs. Murthy’s obvious humility and indubitable sincerity did not shine through so strongly. I forgave her tendency to give homilies, just like I accepted that beloved teacher’s dressing down because I respected her for all the other good in her. Definitely worth a read to get a generous glimpse into a life well lead by Sudha Murthy.