If Sudha Murty was running Infosys

The other day, I was wondering - what if Sudha Murty was involved in running Infosys?!

I have been reading, “Uncommon Love: The Early Life of Sudha & Narayan Murthy” - a beautiful articulation on this powerhouse of a woman and have been finding my own strength through Sudha’s battles.

Here is a woman who graduated at the top of a male-dominated engineering college, who fought to join Telco when women weren’t even allowed to apply and yet, who chose to step back in the company she funded and spearheaded with her husband.

As Infosys started coming to life, Sudha stood shoulder to shoulder with her husband so much so that Nandan Nilekani famously commented - “Sudha's sacrifice formed the foundation on which all our careers and successes were built.”

But when she wanted to contribute fully and join Infosys, her husband’s response was - 'Infosys will become a husband-and-wife firm rather than a professional company. If you really want to be at Infosys, I'll have to leave - and I'm ready to do that.'

And a Sudha (of 30 years ago) accepted that this was a binary choice and she let go. Her struggles post that decision to find her own footing, recreate herself and re-articulate her professional aspirations are heart wrenching. Much later, Sudha says to her kids:

“An older and more mature Sudha would have argued further and pushed harder. Maybe she would have challenged Murthy's opinion, using logic to point out that not all family-run companies had to be like the ones they had encountered. Maybe she would have convinced him that even if they both worked at Infosys, they could set a new record for professionalism.”
And I only kept wondering how Infosys, India and the Indian workplace would have been different!

Maybe Infosys AND India would have seen many more women leaders.
Maybe…Maybe.. Maybe..