Sudha Murty’s philanthropy started with a stray remark from daughter Akshata: ‘I was sleeping, I felt’ | Trending

Rajya Sabha MP and author Sudha Murty, who is known for her philanthropic endeavours, revealed how her daughter Akshata Murty made her realise the power of giving back. She admitted that she was “sleeping” until her daughter “woke her up” and prompted her to embark on her philanthropic journey. Sudha Murty shared that she contemplated her daughter’s remark for a week before deciding to venture into full-time philanthropy. (PTI) “My daughter Akshata’s perspective made me realise the importance of sharing our blessings with others,” wrote Sudha Murty while sharing a video on X (formerly Twitter) in which she shared the inspiring story that started her philanthropic journey. “She came and told me one day that amma, I found out a very bright boy the name of Anand Sharma, who is very good at studies butvery poor. He may get admission to St. Stephen’s College in Delhi. Who can sponsor him?” she said. At that time, Sudha Murty was the Head of the Computer Science Department and was very busy with examinations. So, she told her daughter that she could sponsor the student. “My daughter told me you never give money,” the Padma Bhushan awardee added, explaining that she never gives money to her children. Instead, she always asked them to give her a wishl, which she tried to accommodate. Her daughter then replied, “I don’t have any money, and you say, how can I sponsor?” Sudha Murty went on to share what her daughter said next, which sparked her philanthropic journey. “Amma, you’re well travelled, well-read, fairly intelligent, and if you can’t do philanthropy, then you don’t have a right to say to anyone that they should do philanthropy,” the former chairperson of the Infosys Foundation shared. “I thought over it over a period of one week and decided to do full-time philanthropy. I was sleeping, I felt, my daughter woke me up,” she further added. Watch the video here: Sudha Murty, married to NR Narayana Murthy, the co-founder of Infosys, has two children: Akshata Murty and Rohan Murty. A novel and motivational speaker, she was awarded the Padma Shri in 2006 for her social work and the Padma Bhushan in 2023. She is also involved in the public healthcare initiatives of the Gates Foundation. She has founded several orphanages, participated in rural development efforts, supported the initiative to provide computer and library facilities to all Karnataka government schools, and established the Murty Classical Library of India at Harvard University.