March 6, 2017 at 10:33The first female programmer in India
They love to talk about women in IT history: Ada Lovelace, Erna Hoover, Hedi Lamarr, Grace Hopper and many others - they are admired, quoted and cited as an example. My article will be devoted to Sudha Murthy, the first Indian female programmer who is better known for her charitable and literary activities. Look into her stern eyes and imagine what a difficult path this outstanding woman has made her way through all gender prejudices.
Padma Sri Sudha Kulkarni Murti was born in a poor provincial family: his father worked as a surgeon, his mother was a housewife. The family lived poorly, but all the money went to books, of which there were a lot. A huge influence on the girl was made by her grandfather - Sri Kadim Diwan, an adherent of the ideas of Gandhi, who instilled in Sudha a sense of justice, a love of reading and mathematics. At the age of twelve, Sudha herself, struck by the helplessness of her grandmother, taught her to read. Later childhood memories will form the basis of one of her books .
It was difficult for a girl in India to get an education; her technical specialty was almost impossible. Sudha Murti proved the opposite - girls can get an education and achieve better results than men. She graduated with a gold medal from the Engineering and Technology College of Bumradradi (for all the time she studied, she was the only girl in college), then with a gold medal she graduated from the Department of Computer Science of the Indian Scientific Institute and entered graduate school. Now in engineering specialties in India, almost half of the students are girls, then Sudha was alone in her faculty.
In April 1974, Sudha graduated from graduate school and was waiting for her departure to the USA, where she was to continue her education. By chance, she came across an announcement about a set of engineers at TELCO , one of the largest companies in India. The most common ad with a note: "Please do not disturb the girls."
Sudha was so indignant that she wrote an angry letter. Since she did not know a single address, she immediately wrote to the head of the TATA Group Jehangir “JRD” Tata , whose address she saw in the newspaper. To the surprise of the girl, after 10 days she received an invitation to an interview. “An excellent occasion to go to Pune and buy saris known to all of India and friends,” thought Sudha, who was not going to stay in India and did not believe that they would take her.
Six people came for an interview with Sudha. In two hours she answered all the questions asked to her. “Do you know why we wrote that we do not need girls? Because we never had women in the workplace. This is not a coeducational college, this is a factory. At the institute you were always the best, we admire it. But scientific work is more suitable for people like you ... ”, they told her. “Then you need to start somewhere, otherwise women will never work for you,” Sudha replied. After these words, a new stage began in the history of TELCO: a woman was first accepted to an engineering position.
Sudha worked as a development engineer for 8 years. She personally meets with the head of TATA Group Jehangir Tata, who inspires her to do charity work.
Here she met her future husband Narayan Murti. For the sake of his next dream, she leaves her job at TELCO, gives him 10,000 rupees (~ $ 200) and at first helps as a programmer, but then completely tries on the role of a housewife and a happy mother of two children. Narayan’s dream is called Infosys. Sudha once sought permission for marriage from her father for three years, who considered Narayana not serious enough, paid for her husband in a cafe and a movie. Infosys Limited now has a total capitalization of $ 32 billion, Narayan Murti’s fortune is $ 2 billion, and English is enriched with the verb “to bangalore” .
In 1996, the Infosys Foundation created a charity fund, with Sudha Murti as its head. The main activities of the fund are the fight against hunger, education and health. At the expense of the fund, children’s homes, hospitals, hospices, daramashals are built , ethnic festivals are held, children from the lower layers of the population are educated, the fund is engaged in identifying and supporting girls who have become devadasi . The Fund takes part in disaster management, cooperates with non-governmental charitable organizations.
During the work in 50,000 schools, libraries were created, 13,000 schools were equipped with toilets, 2,300 houses in the disaster area were restored. His budget grew from $ 40,000 in 1996 to $ 65 million in 2015. The Infosys Foundation USA was launched to promote programming in US schools.
Despite impressive charitable activities, Sudha Murti is still known for her literary works: children's and popular science books, fiction, there is a wonderful essay dedicated to Russia. Her books are popular in India and translated into 15 languages, including English. Films based on her works are made in Bollywood, and Sudha, a cinema fan, enjoys playing them herself.
In anticipation of March 8, I will end the article with a quote from Sudhi Murti about beauty:
“What makes a person beautiful? This is not makeup, flowers or jewelry, not clothes or bracelets - none of this makes a person truly beautiful. Real beauty is kindness in the heart, confidence on the face ... Achieving harmony between heart, actions and mind are the most beautiful people. ”
→ The story of Infosys from Sudha
→ Instructions on how to become the wife of a billionaire
→ A side view of Russian wedding traditions
→ Bibliography
→ Presentation about Sudha Murthy
→ Interview on charity
Early years and education
Padma Sri Sudha Kulkarni Murti was born in a poor provincial family: his father worked as a surgeon, his mother was a housewife. The family lived poorly, but all the money went to books, of which there were a lot. A huge influence on the girl was made by her grandfather - Sri Kadim Diwan, an adherent of the ideas of Gandhi, who instilled in Sudha a sense of justice, a love of reading and mathematics. At the age of twelve, Sudha herself, struck by the helplessness of her grandmother, taught her to read. Later childhood memories will form the basis of one of her books .
It was difficult for a girl in India to get an education; her technical specialty was almost impossible. Sudha Murti proved the opposite - girls can get an education and achieve better results than men. She graduated with a gold medal from the Engineering and Technology College of Bumradradi (for all the time she studied, she was the only girl in college), then with a gold medal she graduated from the Department of Computer Science of the Indian Scientific Institute and entered graduate school. Now in engineering specialties in India, almost half of the students are girls, then Sudha was alone in her faculty.
Work and personal life
In April 1974, Sudha graduated from graduate school and was waiting for her departure to the USA, where she was to continue her education. By chance, she came across an announcement about a set of engineers at TELCO , one of the largest companies in India. The most common ad with a note: "Please do not disturb the girls."
Sudha was so indignant that she wrote an angry letter. Since she did not know a single address, she immediately wrote to the head of the TATA Group Jehangir “JRD” Tata , whose address she saw in the newspaper. To the surprise of the girl, after 10 days she received an invitation to an interview. “An excellent occasion to go to Pune and buy saris known to all of India and friends,” thought Sudha, who was not going to stay in India and did not believe that they would take her.
Six people came for an interview with Sudha. In two hours she answered all the questions asked to her. “Do you know why we wrote that we do not need girls? Because we never had women in the workplace. This is not a coeducational college, this is a factory. At the institute you were always the best, we admire it. But scientific work is more suitable for people like you ... ”, they told her. “Then you need to start somewhere, otherwise women will never work for you,” Sudha replied. After these words, a new stage began in the history of TELCO: a woman was first accepted to an engineering position.
Sudha worked as a development engineer for 8 years. She personally meets with the head of TATA Group Jehangir Tata, who inspires her to do charity work.
Here she met her future husband Narayan Murti. For the sake of his next dream, she leaves her job at TELCO, gives him 10,000 rupees (~ $ 200) and at first helps as a programmer, but then completely tries on the role of a housewife and a happy mother of two children. Narayan’s dream is called Infosys. Sudha once sought permission for marriage from her father for three years, who considered Narayana not serious enough, paid for her husband in a cafe and a movie. Infosys Limited now has a total capitalization of $ 32 billion, Narayan Murti’s fortune is $ 2 billion, and English is enriched with the verb “to bangalore” .
Charity
In 1996, the Infosys Foundation created a charity fund, with Sudha Murti as its head. The main activities of the fund are the fight against hunger, education and health. At the expense of the fund, children’s homes, hospitals, hospices, daramashals are built , ethnic festivals are held, children from the lower layers of the population are educated, the fund is engaged in identifying and supporting girls who have become devadasi . The Fund takes part in disaster management, cooperates with non-governmental charitable organizations.
During the work in 50,000 schools, libraries were created, 13,000 schools were equipped with toilets, 2,300 houses in the disaster area were restored. His budget grew from $ 40,000 in 1996 to $ 65 million in 2015. The Infosys Foundation USA was launched to promote programming in US schools.
Literature
Despite impressive charitable activities, Sudha Murti is still known for her literary works: children's and popular science books, fiction, there is a wonderful essay dedicated to Russia. Her books are popular in India and translated into 15 languages, including English. Films based on her works are made in Bollywood, and Sudha, a cinema fan, enjoys playing them herself.
Conclusion
In anticipation of March 8, I will end the article with a quote from Sudhi Murti about beauty:
“What makes a person beautiful? This is not makeup, flowers or jewelry, not clothes or bracelets - none of this makes a person truly beautiful. Real beauty is kindness in the heart, confidence on the face ... Achieving harmony between heart, actions and mind are the most beautiful people. ”
Interesting materials
→ The story of Infosys from Sudha
→ Instructions on how to become the wife of a billionaire
→ A side view of Russian wedding traditions
→ Bibliography
→ Presentation about Sudha Murthy
→ Interview on charity
