Rajya Sabha MP and author Sudha Murty, renowned for her charitable work, disclosed that her daughter, Akshata Murty, played a crucial role in awakening her sense of philanthropy. Sudha Murty acknowledged that she was previously uninspired until her daughter’s encouragement led her to start her journey of giving back.
Sudha Murty took to X (formerly Twitter) to share a video recounting the inspiring story behind her philanthropic journey. She accompanied the video with a caption that reads, “My daughter Akshata’s perspective made me realise the importance of sharing our blessings with others.”
In the video, Ms Murthy recalled, “She came and told me one day that amma, I found out a very bright boy by the name of Anand Sharma, who is very good at studies but very poor. He may get admission to St. Stephen’s College in Delhi. Who can sponsor him?”
At that time, Sudha Murty, who was the Head of the Computer Science Department and heavily occupied with exams, told her daughter, "You can sponsor the student."
“My daughter told me you never give money,” the Padma Bhushan awardee shared. She explained that instead of giving money to her children, she preferred them to provide a wishlist, which she would then try to fulfil. Her daughter then replied, “I don’t have any money, and you say, how can I sponsor?”
Ms Murty revealed that her daughter's comment was the catalyst for 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," Akshata told her mother, as Ms Murty recounted.
“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 added.
Watch the video:
Sudha Murty, wife of Infosys co-founder NR Narayana Murthy, is the mother of Akshata Murty and Rohan Murty. An acclaimed novelist and motivational speaker, she received the Padma Shri in 2006 for her contributions to social work and was honored with the Padma Bhushan in 2023. Additionally, she is actively engaged with the Gates Foundation's public healthcare projects. Her philanthropic efforts include founding numerous orphanages, contributing to rural development, supporting the provision of computer and library resources in Karnataka government schools, and establishing the Murty Classical Library of India at Harvard University.
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