I like to go to areas where others do not: Sudha Murty Chairperson, Infosys Foundation

On December 16, 1996 that Sudha Murty started the Infosys Foundation as a trus tee alongside NS Raghavan (Infosys cofounder) and GR Naik (finance head). None of them had a social science background but were determined to make a difference to the poorest of the poor. Since then, the author and engineer has touched lives of people through her work in education, healthcare, destitute care, rural development, and the arts. She spoke to ET about the journey that started with a purse of Rs 30 lakh 1996 to touch Rs 450 crore 19 years later.Edited excerpts:
Looking back, what was it that you set out to do and what have you achieved?

We started with a clean board in 1996. But I was always inclined to social service because of my work with the Tatas.They were simple people who loved their country through philanthropy. Initially, we decided to allocate 20 per cent each to the five focus sectors. The first priority is food, then education and healthcare.Only after your stomach is full do you think of art. So we stopped fixing percentages. Our maximum donation amount was Rs 20 crore till 2014. Interestingly, last year alone, we spent Rs 243 crore, more than (Rs 200 crore) we had donated in 18 years. We have built 13,000 toilets in government schools, empowered devadasis and educated children.

What about work in disaster-relief?

We have worked for the victims of Gujarat earthquake (2001), in Andaman and Nicobar during the tsunami, during droughts in south Maharashtra and north Karnataka, hurricane and floods in Andhra Pradesh and Orissa. Recently, during the floods in Tamil Nadu, we used our office space to cook for 15,000 people. On a daily basis, we sent five trucks with water, groceries, medicines and other essentials. We worked in Nagapattinam, Villupuram and Kadalur, where there was not much media attention, unlike Chennai. I like to go to areas where people do not go. You have written 25 books in 36 years.How has your social work influenced your writing? Writing is independent of my work. Even if I was not Narayana Murthy's wife and without all this money, I would be writing. But my social work has improved my writing by giving me a large canvas.

What does the future look like? Who is the next Sudha Murty?

We have instituted 10 chairs in different institutions last year. This year, instead of chairs, the interest from the corpus will enable students to present papers abroad. I really don't know about succession. We have built a transparent, principled Foundation. I am only a traveller.People like me will come and go but the institution remains the same.

How has your family inspired you?

My journey was not easy but my parents always encouraged me. My grandparents were not rich but gave away rice to people in need. Another grandmother was a staunch Brahmin midwife who helped women irrespective of caste. My father, a doctor and an atheist, kept his patients above religion. He taught me that helping people is the real pooja. Murthy and I, too, never thought we would earn money, nor were we after it. If we were, we could have earned much more.