Sudha Murthy, chairperson of the Infosys Foundation, a philanthropist, and popularly known as Sudha Amma among children through her stories, previously shared an old picture on her X account, and it went viral.The photo shows her and husband Narayana Murthy on a picnic with Nandan and Rohini Nilekani, taken decades ago in Matheran, the small hill station near Mumbai that is famously known for its misty viewpoints.Sharing it, Sudha wrote: “Sharing a sweet memory from my younger days. Mr. Murthy and I went on a picnic to Matheran with Mr. @NandanNilekani and Mrs. Rohini Nilekani. We had such a lovely time, and this picture makes it all come back to life again” .This nostalgic image might just be simple and may bring back a heckle of memories, but it takes viewers back to the days when Infosys began just from a small home rented by the Murthy’s.These two couples’ personal partnerships silently laid the foundation stones of one of India’s biggest corporate success stories, long before Infosys, Aadhaar, or any of the headlines had followed.A long time before Infosys became a global IT giant, it was just an idea, and the wives of the founders quietly made it possible. In 1981, Narayana Murthy told his wife, Sudha Murthy, that he wanted to start a software company. The couple was living in a rented apartment in Bandra, Mumbai, at the time, and money was tight. Sudha handed him Rs 10,000 from her own savings, nearly everything she had set aside to help get Infosys off the ground, according to a PTI report.
Photo: @SmtSudhaMurty/ X
The Murthy’s and Nilekani’s have shared a close bond since their humble beginnings of Infosys.
While remembering her time back when the six founders thought of starting the company, Roshini Nilekani said in a video available on Infosys’ social media account how Nandan Nilekani came and expressed his excitement and the Murthy’s were closely tied in with the idea, “So, we have decided to start this company and I wouldn’t do that without speaking to you, and I immediately said yes, its a good idea, maybe because I didn’t no better and we were young and in love and we had a lot of energy, and this was the time to take risks and ofcourse we respected Mr. Murthy, and we know that this group pf people and it was already very special.”
So, how are the Murthys and Nilekanis related to each other?
Sudha and Narayana Murthy met through a mutual friend and married in 1978, three years before Infosys was founded. Nandan Nilekani, meanwhile, was one of the seven co-founders who launched the company on July 2, 1981, in Pune, alongside Narayana Murthy. Nandan married Rohini in 1981 as well, the same year Infosys began.
The two couples’ lives have been intertwined ever since, through Infosys’s early struggles.
As cited by multiple reports, Sudha Murthy said, “ 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.”Off the balance sheet, both wives carved out substantial legacies of their own. Sudha Murthy went on to become one of India’s most-read authors and a well-known philanthropist, later nominated to the Rajya Sabha for her contributions to social work and education. Rohini Nilekani founded the Arghyam Foundation in 2001 to work on water and sanitation, and has authored several books, including Stillborn and Samaaj, Sarkaar, Bazaar: A Citizen-First Approach.
Nandan Nilekani and Narayn Murthy’s companionship goes back to years before Infosys
Nandan Nilekani once sat down for a chat with LinkedIn CEO Ryan Roslansky, and he shared a story that changed the course of his life, through a job interview he gave way back in 1978, with none other than Narayana Murthy.Back then, Nilekani was a fresh IIT Bombay grad with an electrical engineering degree, and he had no idea that one interview would eventually lead to the founding of Infosys on July 2, 1981. Looking back now, he jokes that he’s basically an “accidental entrepreneur.”He told Roslansky, “I came at a time when computing was moving from mainframes to mini-computers. When I heard about this mini-computer company, I said, ‘Wow, this sounds exciting.'” He was talking about Patni Computer Systems in Pune, where Murthy was heading the software division at the time.Nilekani looked back on Murthy with a lot of admiration. “He was ambitious and set lofty goals,” he recalled. “I was willing to do anything for him. If he had asked me to jump off a cliff, I would have done it. Working with him was an incredible experience.”
A Rs. 10,000 investment by Sudha Murthy that ties it all
There was just Rs. 10,000 saving, kept by Sudha Murthy for a ‘rainy day’ that she gave to Narayan Murthy to start the company.None of them, not Narayana, Sudha, Nandan, or Rohini — talk about those days like they were glamorous.Maybe that’s exactly why one old picnic photo from Matheran posted by Sudha Murthy hit home and symbolises the years of persistence and hard work that a few new lovers and enthusiasts put in, and it shows just how far both families have come.
