WISE & OTHERWISE

Sudha Murty w/o N.R. Narayana Murty, is a trustee of the Infosys Foundation serving the country's poor and needy since 1996. She is an M.Tech in Computer Science and also teaches as visiting faculty to post graduate students in Bangalore University. ‘Wise & Otherwise’ is a collage of her experiences (51 short stories), right through her life from childhood till the present times. She has put forward various instances which show that even ‘shirtless people’ (the poor masses) can teach us a way to lead life, positively and with indelible enthusiasm.  In the words of a poor fisher boy – “panch rupay se bhi bahut kuch hota hai”.

Over the years, she’s been dedicated to philanthropic work all over the country. In the course of this hectic task, separating the needy and deserving from the greedy and opportunists is tiresome. There are some politicians who take the credit of work done by NGOs and unsung donors. She has also shown clear contrasts among different people behaving differently under the same circumstances, where being just to others is the need of the hour. The decisions made can be either constructive or destructive, depending on whether the choices are made rationally or bluntly. It reflects her keen observance of people.

Murty mentions the insensitivity index of emotionally immune people. She also throws light on the plight of Indian women as opposed to the socio-economic and political liberty of their counterparts in small European nations like Denmark, Sweden & Norway. Once in Stockholm, she was charged late night taxi charge as half the actual fare which could have been double in India. She points out that different generations of mankind differ in ideas and beliefs which is evident with the current student-teacher relationship and that in the’ Gurukul’ times. But she also suggests that age, caste, or economic or social stature is no bar for wisdom and humility even today.

In a way, Alfred Nobel was the first Philanthropist who made his will to award (the Nobel Prize) the special contributors to mankind, worldwide. For some see the Dynamite as a weapon of mass destruction, and some others as a way to cut through the mountains to make way for railways and tunnels. Don’t curse the dark, light as many candles as you can. Myriads of innovations are at your disposal. To make or to break - it’s your choice boss..!!