Sudha Murty: The Engineer and Storyteller Bengaluru Claims as Its Own

“Stand up for what is right, even if you are standing alone.”

• A line she has used in talks to students

Sudha Murty is an engineer, teacher, author and philanthropist from Karnataka who has lived and worked in Bengaluru for most of her life. She studied at IISc Bengaluru, became the first woman engineer hired by TELCO after writing to JRD Tata about a job advert that excluded women, and lent Narayana Murthy the Rs 10,000 that helped start Infosys. She chaired the Infosys Foundation from 1996, has written dozens of books in Kannada and English, and received the Padma Shri in 2006 and the Padma Bhushan in 2023. She was nominated to the Rajya Sabha on March 8, 2024.

I have yet to meet a Bangalorean parent who does not own at least one of her books. Grandma's Bag of Stories is practically a rite of passage in this city, and her columns and short stories in Kannada have been read in homes across Karnataka for decades. What makes her story compelling, though, is not the fame. It is that she has been quietly stubborn in all the right places, starting with a postcard.

This profile keeps to her well-established story. It is her Bangalore story: the engineering, the postcard, the Foundation, the books and why this city treats her like a favourite aunt.

Who Is Sudha Murty?

She is a Kannadiga engineer who became one of India's most widely read authors and one of its best-known philanthropists. She grew up in north Karnataka, in a family of teachers and doctors, and chose engineering at a time when very few women did. At BVB College in Hubballi she was reportedly the only woman in her class, and she finished first.

• Shiggaon and Hubballi. Her childhood and engineering years in north Karnataka, which appear often in her stories.
• IISc Bengaluru. Her master's degree in computer science, where she topped her course.
• TELCO, Pune. Her first engineering job, won by writing to JRD Tata.
• Bengaluru. Where she built her life with Narayana Murthy, raised her children, taught, wrote and ran the Infosys Foundation.

What Was Sudha Murty's Postcard to JRD Tata?

While finishing her master's at IISc, she saw a job advert from TELCO that said women need not apply. She wrote a postcard to JRD Tata, the chairman of the Tata group, pointing out that this was unfair. She was called for a special interview and hired, becoming the first woman engineer on the company's shop floor. She has told the story many times since, and it has become a small legend in Indian engineering.

“One postcard, one interview, one job. It is still the best argument for writing the letter.”

• On the TELCO story

What Is Sudha Murty's Connection to Infosys?

She lent Narayana Murthy Rs 10,000 from her savings to help start Infosys in 1981, and she was closely involved in the company's early years. She did not join the company herself, but she went on to chair the Infosys Foundation, the company's philanthropic arm, from its founding in 1996.

• The loan. Rs 10,000 that became part of the most famous startup story in India.
• The Foundation. Work across healthcare, education, rural development, destitute care, arts and culture.
• The libraries. The Foundation's work setting up libraries in government schools across Karnataka is one of its best-known programmes.
• Disaster relief. Relief and rebuilding work after floods and droughts in Karnataka and elsewhere.

What Books Has Sudha Murty Written?

Dozens, in Kannada and English, across fiction, non-fiction, travel writing and children's books. Her writing is known for simple language, moral clarity and stories drawn from real people she has met through her work. Many of her books have been translated into several Indian languages.

• Wise and Otherwise. Short true stories from her travels and Foundation work.
• Dollar Bahu. A novel about a family, money and the pull of life abroad.
• Gently Falls the Bakula. A novel, translated from Kannada, about a marriage and ambition.
• Grandma's Bag of Stories. The children's collection nearly every Bengaluru child has read.
• How I Taught My Grandmother to Read. Short stories from her childhood.
• Three Thousand Stitches. Stories from her work with devadasi women and others.

Why Do Bangaloreans Feel So Close to Sudha Murty?

Because her stories are full of places and people they recognise, and because her public image has always been approachable. She is known for simple clothing and habits, for speaking plainly at schools and colleges, and for encouraging children to read. In a city of billion dollar companies, she is the person who reminds everyone to call their grandparents.

Where Can You See Sudha Murty's Legacy in Bengaluru?

In school libraries, hospitals and bookshops more than on monuments. Much of the Infosys Foundation's work under her leadership was in Karnataka, including libraries in government schools, hospital facilities, relief work and support for arts and culture, and her books are in almost every Bengaluru bookshop and school library.

• School libraries. The Foundation's library programme has put books into a very large number of government schools across the state.
• Hospitals. Foundation-funded facilities at hospitals in Bengaluru, including rest houses for patients' families.
• Bookshops. Her books are shelved at the front of nearly every Bengaluru bookshop, in both Kannada and English.
• IISc. Her alma mater, where she studied computer science.
• Schools and colleges. She has spoken at countless Bengaluru institutions, and students still quote her talks.

What Can Bangaloreans Learn From Sudha Murty?

That one clear, polite objection can change a system, and that giving works best when it is steady rather than showy. The postcard to JRD Tata is the most practical lesson in this entire series. If something is unfair, write the letter.

Why Does Sudha Murty Belong in People of Bangalore?

Same city, new stories, always.

Related Stories

WOMEN WHO MADE A DIFFERENCE Deepika Padukone: The Bengaluru Girl Who Went to Bollywood September 23, 2026 WOMEN WHO MADE A DIFFERENCE Nigar Shaji: The Bengaluru Scientist Who Sent India to the Sun September 23, 2026 WOMEN WHO MADE A DIFFERENCE Rajeshwari Chatterjee: IISc's Pioneering Woman Engineer September 23, 2026 FOUNDERS N R Narayana Murthy: The Infosys Founder Who Made Bengaluru an IT City September 23, 2026 PHILANTHROPY Ashok Kamath: The Chip Industry Boss Who Went Back to Primary School September 24, 2026 CINEMA Jaggesh: Kannada Cinema's Navarasa Nayaka September 23, 2026