MY (e)BOOK SHELF

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Happy Birthday to 

Sudha Murthy  

(An Iconic Women, 

Philanthropist, and Author)

A computer engineer, a chairman of one of the leading company in India, a writer, a movie buff and a social worker. Sudha Murthy is all this and more. She acts as the chairperson of Infosys foundation and is also a member of the Gates Foundation. She has spent her entire adult life in the welfare of the people who need her. She was facilitated at Harward University where she opened 'The Murty Classical Library of India’. She is the wife of Narayan Murthy, former Infosys Supremo.

Sudha Murty was born in 1950 in Shiggaon in north Karnataka. She did her MTech in computer science and now the Chairman of Infosys Foundation. A prolific writer in English and Kannada, she has written novels, technical books, travelogues, collections of short stories and non-fictional pieces and four books for children. Her books have been translated into all the major Indian languages. Sudha Murty was the recipient of the R.K. Narayan Award for Literature and the Padma Shri in 2006 and the Attimabbe Award from the government of Karnataka for excellence in Kannada literature in 2011.

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Sudha Murthy's Books

Gently Falls the Bakula

‘Shrikant was restless . . . Holding a bakula flower in his palm, he was wondering why he was fascinated by this tiny flower, that was neither as beautiful as a rose nor had the fragrance of a jasmine or a champaka. And yet, it was very special to him. It held an inexplicable attraction for him.’

Shrimati and Shrikant are neighbours and star students of their college in the small north Karnataka town of Hubli. It leaves no one in surprise when they come first and second respectively in the final Board exams. Soon Shrikant discovers he is strangely attracted to Shrimati, a plain-looking yet charming person, who always does better than him in the exams. Shrimati too falls in love with the amiable and handsome Shrikant and the two get married. Shrikant joins an IT company and starts rapidly climbing the corporate ladder. He works relentlessly and reaches the pinnacle of his industry, while Shrimati abandons her academic aspirations and becomes his uncomplaining shadow, silently fulfilling her duties as a corporate leader’s wife. But one day, while talking to an old professor, she starts examining what she has done with her life and realizes it is dismally empty . . .

Gently Falls the Bakula is the story of a marriage that loses its way as ambition and self-interest take their toll. Written nearly three decades ago, Sudha Murty’s first novel remains startlingly relevant in its scrutiny of modern values and work ethics.

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House of Cards

Mridula is a young and enthusiastic woman who hails from a village in Karnataka. She meets Sanjay, an impoverished doctor, and they fall in love and decide to marry and settle in Bangalore. Mridula starts to notice the selfish and materialistic world around her. In the meanwhile, Sanjay decides to leave his current job for a private practice. The job pays him well and with more money comes the desire for even more. This leads to corrupt practices and problems between the couple. Mridula eventually decides that she needs to leave her husband and go out on her own.

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The Man from the Egg: 

Unusual tales 

about the Trinity

Did you know that Brahma once had five faces?
Why do snakes have a forked tongue?
Do gods cheat?
Why does Shiva sport a crescent moon on his head?

The Trinity, consisting of Brahma, Shiva and Vishnu, is the omnipresent trio responsible for the survival of the human race and the world as we know it. They are popular deities of worship all over India, but what remain largely unknown are some of their extraordinary stories.

Award-winning author Sudha Murty walks by your side, weaving enchanting tales of the three most powerful gods from the ancient world. Each story will take you back to a magical time when people could teleport, animals could fly and reincarnation was simply a fact of life.

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The Old Man and His God: Discovering the Spirit of India

Sudha Murthy once told someone that when people often wondered why so many interesting things happened only to him, he replied that he, like all of us, meets strangers and some of these strangers have left a lasting impact on his life. All he does is that he embraces those encounters and that is what makes his life so interesting. He believes that if you have a sensitive mind and record your observations regularly, you will see that your life too is a vast storehouse of stories. This is the essence of this book 'The old man and his God '. While reading the book, do not expect nerve wracking story of magic and supernatural powers. It contains what the author has been referring to as 'real’ because real is what we experience. As far as the reality of India is considered, this book can show you many layers of it. If one wants to know what the soul of India says (and not necessarily how they look or speak), this is an ideal read. These aren't complex stories. They are simple and honest. Many unspoken areas of human life have been touched upon. There are accounts of struggles and hardships that the people of India face on a daily basis. The emotions that emerge out of this short story collection range from love to friendship to betrayal and covers domains from business to philanthropy to counselling and from freedom to injustice to selfishness. She talks about the selfless too and the generous honest ones. The title story is about a visually impaired old man who lives in his little Shiva temple. He doesn't need help, he refuses any. He is his own maker. Other stories contain unheard tales from the remote corner of the country. She is trying to represent those hidden people who didn’t have a voice till now. 

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Three Thousand Stitches: 
Ordinary People, 
Extraordinary Lives

[i]So often, it's the simplest acts of courage that touch the lives of others. Sudha Murty-through the exceptional work of the Infosys Foundation as well as through her own youth, family life and travels-encounters many such stories... And she tells them here in her characteristically clear-eyed, warm-hearted way. She talks candidly about the meaningful impact of her work in the devadasi community, her trials and tribulations as the only female student in her engineering college and the unexpected and inspiring consequences of her father's kindness. From the quiet joy of discovering the reach of Indian cinema and the origins of Indian vegetables to the shallowness of judging others based on appearances, these are everyday struggles and victories, large and small. Unmasking both the beauty and ugliness of human nature, each of the real-life stories in this collection is reflective of a life lived with grace.[/i]

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Wise & Otherwise: 
A Salute to Life

Fifty vignettes showcase the myriad shades of human nature

A man dumps his aged father in an old-age home after declaring him to be a homeless stranger, a tribal chief in the Sahyadri hills teaches the author that there is humility in receiving too, and a sick woman remembers to thank her benefactor even from her deathbed. These are just some of the poignant and eye-opening stories about people from all over the country that Sudha Murty recounts in this book. From incredible examples of generosity to the meanest acts one can expect from men and women, she records everything with wry humour and a directness that touches the heart.

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