" Having wealth without compassion is similar to a golden flower without fragrance.." - Sudha Murthy

A packed conference hall in the Hyd DC. It was the ESTEEM awards ceremony, one of the numerous events that infy organizes to recognize and reward the talent of its employees. That seemed to be the obvious reason for the packed room. But, there was something bigger. It was the presence of one of the most elegant of human beings at the event. It was Ms.Sudha. Or should I be saying Mrs. Murthy. I'm not sure about the others, but I was part of the crowd only to listen to the 20 min talk of her's.


One might feel calling her 'one of the most elegant of human beings' as blowing her stature out of proportions, but this lady definitely deserves to called so. I guess most us even might agree to this. And reading further you would realise why she is one. ( I'm not trying to write a testimonial for Sudha madam but I'm writing this because her speech was as splendid as she has always been.)

It was a Video Conference with all the DC's connecting for the event. Though a VC, people were still searching for places and with none vacant they had decided to use the steps in the hall as seats.
After a speech by the head of the ES team, Sudha Madam was invited to the podium. The untill then restless crowd had suddenly fallen silent. Everybody settled down suddeny to sit and watch. And for the next 20-25 mins everybody just watched.


A simple lady, in her late 50's but with the vigor of a girl in 20's still very strong in ideas and clear in thoughts, walked upto the mike. She's been a teacher. She's been a mentor. She's been a programmer. She's been an advisor. She's been a mother. She'e been a lover. She's been a visionary. And she's been the source of life to innumerable souls. And here she was, talking again to inspire, teaching from the pages of her experience with life.


She Began,'Thanks to all the infoscions for your continuing contribution for the profits of the company. Its your effort that pays dividends to all of the share holders and to us, the Infy Foundation. Thanks to you all.'

Teacher. Anybody would always listen to his/her school teacher talk. She would be the only one in life I guess who could still command you and ask you lots of questions. And Sudha madam was a teacher. And she was commanding. Commanding respect for all her words and deeds.


She started narrating a short story of one of her school student's. It goes like this.

' I once gave a short lecture in one of my classes. I said, what ever you learn is going to give you your life. Tomorrow in life whatever you may become, dont forget to be compassionate to the people around you. Sri Krishna said in Geeta, One has to learn to give and give as much as he can. You being compassionate can give life to somebody. Always remember, having wealth without compassion is similar to a golden flower without fragrance.

After the class one of my students came to me asked me,' Ma'am, I dont agree with what you say. This is a competitive world and if I need to survie here, I need killer instincts more than compassion. You might say help others your stomach is full and you dont need to bother. But, there are people in this world who have responsibilities to fullfill. For all of them being compassionate means neglecting their responsibilities.' He argued with me that day and I remembered him.

Years later, he called me sometime back and asked me if he could meet me. I said come down for coffee. And we met in my house. I had been talking all my life. This time I wante to listen. I wanted my student to talk. So, I asked him 'What happened?'. 'You were right ma'am.' He started. ' All my life I spent time building relations which would give me something. Relations out of which I could earn something. I built relations only when I saw an advantage in it for me. I've grown. I've acheived what I wanted to. I'm a big man now. I've all the money I wanted. But, I'm missing something in life. I'm not happy today.' I asked him why. 'I built my relations for my advantages. And the same way is my daughter now. She talks to me only when she needs my help on something. My wife has no time to spend with me as she's the same. I'm not happy at all. Ma'am what do I do?'. All the boys here pls remember that you are the head of the family when you aer married. You are the role model for your kids. They dont follow anybody but you. So be careful about your actions.

I asked him if he had ever been to sudan or somalia. He replied, ' Yes , for a business visit. Its not a place for business.'

'These are people who cant eat twice a day and what do you think they'll do business with.
You have to be compassionate to people around you.'


She went on,'To me progress of the nation doesn't mean having 10 $3 billion companies. Its about the children here getting to eat 2 meals a day. Its about them getting proper primary education. Thats possible when each of us contributes to the society without expecting anything in return. Thats when actually my country will progress.
Thanks for bearing with me.'


The hall resounded with applause for the next minute. It was an immensly touching speech. A person who is spending her life for the well-being of the society, wanted contribution to the cause from all of us, in terms of time we spend, in terms of terms of deeds we do and in terms of compassion towards the people around us.


I guess this would definitely summarize why she would be called the epitome of elegance.
A truely remarkable personality. Hats off to you ma'am!!!!


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Ms. Sudha is the Chairperson of the Infosys Foundation, which is a service organization for the underprivileged in our society. She is the wife of Mr. Narayana Murthy, Founder of Infosys.

Note: I have tried to recreate her speech as closely as possible. Forgive me for any mistakes.