Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni’s An Uncommon Love–The Early Life of Sudha and Narayana Murthy, begins with a quote from Greek philosopher, Heraclitus –‘Character is destiny’.
The biography traces the early years of the Murthys as a couple, the birth of Infosys, and their struggles and challenges as they traverse different journeys—in life and career– and yet remain steadfast when it comes to their ideals, principles, and strength of character.
There’s a lot in the book we know already--of Sudha’s struggles as the only girl in her engineering college, working on the TELCO shop floor, and her monetary contribution that helped her husband start Infosys.
But it’s the courtship between the unlikely pair, she– a vivacious young woman, a staunch feminist, and a Bollywood buff, and he–a shy, young man bound by socialist ideals, that makes it different from a normal biography that follows a certain structure or a timeline of events.
An Uncommon Love is steeped in emotion—told in Divakaruni’s trademark simple yet evocative style—a story of two individuals brought together by a common love for books, and a relationship that weathered many storms and sacrifices before they became icons in their own right.
The book, which took two years to write, was the result of many Zoom calls, and Divakaruni staying with the Murthys in Bengaluru to understand their lives and to listen first-hand their memories right from their first meeting in 1974. She says, the couple also shared with her little notes written by them about different incidents.
The author, best known for her works of literary and historical fiction, admits it took a lot of back and forth between Chiki Sarkar, Founder, Juggernaut Books, and her to be convinced about writing the biography.
“I had not written any non-fiction and Chiki convinced me by saying I could bring my “imaginative fiction writer’s perspective” into this.
"Fortunately, the Murthys were also on board with it. I know them as Sudhaji’s younger brother, Shrinivas and I studied together at University of Berkeley and had met them when they came to visit him. We had a good amount of trust between us and they felt I would do an honest job with no hidden agenda,” she tells YS Life.
Divakaruni believed that the biography would be a great human story about the partnership between two people.
“People don’t look at the failures that lie behind success, the failures that help you. I wanted to write about the early part of their lives, the family connections; parents, grandparents, and their influences on the couple’s life,” she adds.
There are many incidents that stand out, of the courtship– Sudha making a bet that she would watch a movie every day of the year or Murthy’s ingenious idea of getting her friend to distract the hostel guard, while she slipped in, after her curfew. Or how he once travelled 11 hours with her to her hometown, Hubli, without a ticket, so that he could be with her, and return by the next train.
As Sudha embraced motherhood, the challenges became more complex, and are relatable for several women juggling a career with family. She had to leave her daughter Akshata with her parents and sister to continue with her job, and it’s heart-breaking to read of her missing several key moments of her childhood. And Akshata not knowing who Sudha was. It was only when she was four years old that she realised Sudha was her mother.
While the book brings out the pangs of a mother missing her child, it also speaks of a strong family bond, and a support system that helped the Murthys tide over their challenges.
Also, the fact that Sudha thought it as a given that she would join Infosys and then her husband countering it with, “ The two of us cannot be in the same company,” tugs at the heartstrings. Here was a woman who had fought every battle that came her way, supported her husband through all his dreams, and gave him money for the equity of the company, but was told she couldn’t work in the company—the moment of rejection is disturbing. But Sudha holds her own, determined to say what she has to, and to make her heart known. She’s no pushover!
This was a tough moment in their relationship, says Divakaruni.
“Sudha had gone against tradition, time and again–by joining an engineering college where there was no girl’s bathroom, being on the shop floor—she was breaking a lot of glass ceilings, pushing for herself and other women. I think once she had children that really changed.”
Ultimately, Murthy told Sudha she could lead the company while he could leave. He was serious about it, but what swayed her was her family; she felt she couldn’t do justice if she were to head a company and also look after Akshata and the second child she hoped to have someday soon.
The book also follows Sudha’s journey as a philanthropist, a teacher, and a writer. In a sense, she was reinventing herself in different areas from the ground up.
Murthy’s journey from his socialist ideals to compassionate capitalism has been captured brilliantly by Divakaruni. It speaks of his uncompromising values, his failure with his first startup, his love for research – all told from different experiences in his life – giving up a coveted position in PCS, waiting for nine months for the approval of a computer import, and then applying for a loan of Rs 50 lakh to import the DG MV/8000 supermini and set up a data centre. An incident in particular stands out – Donn Liles, who headed Data Basics Corporation, was a temperamental client who made Murthy sleep on a large box in the storeroom, surrounded by cartons, though his home had four bedrooms.
Among all the conversations with the couple, Divakaruni says her favourite takeaway is that they were not one-dimensional.
“We would all think he is a great founder, they are all philanthropists, but I love how in their youth, there were some charming moments and Mr Murthy actually comes across as mischievous. When I talked to them about it, he said he used to be that kind of person but had to let it go because he became really focused on Infosys,” she says.
“About Sudha, the part that touched me was how she felt leaving Akshata in another city while she worked in Pune. She was tearing up a bit while talking about how Akshata didn’t remember who she was when she visited. I think these are poignant moments of motherhood that are moving,” she adds.
(An Uncommon Love – The Early Life of Sudha and Narayana Murthy is published by Juggernaut Books)
Edited by Megha Reddy
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