[Have Passion!
This could be an alternative title for the article. I would put Sudha Murthy’s
in the group of articles we recently had at the sciy. These include the
following:
1: Sri Aurobindo at
http://www.sciy.org/blog/_archives/2007/9/26/3253926.html
2: The Athenians and
the Visigoths: A Graduation Speech—by Neil Postmanhttp://www.sciy.org/blog/_archives/2007/10/15/3291703.html
3: "You've got to find what
you love ..."—Steve Jobs' Stanford commencement address
Stanford Report, June 14,
2005
http://news-service.stanford.edu/news/2005/june15/jobs-061505.html
posted by ronjon on Tue 24 Jan 2006 at
http://www.sciy.org/blog/_archives/2006/1/24/1721027.html
There is
something sweet and endearing with the human touch in these pieces. Could not
that human touch become reassuring that, there is hope for us when we engage
ourselves in our daily activities with a sense of commitment and conviction,
the qualities that can elevate us? Somehow the psychic speaks through them in a
happy creative mood—and that is heartening indeed. RYD]
It was
probably the April of 1974.
I was
looking forward to going abroad to complete a doctorate in
computer science. I had been offered scholarships from Universities in the
One day,
while on the way to my hostel from our lecture-hall complex, I saw an
advertisement on the notice board. It was a standard job-requirement notice
from the famous automobile company Telco (now Tata Motors). It stated that the
company required young, bright engineers, hardworking and with an excellent
academic background, etc.
At the
bottom was a small line: "Lady
candidates need not apply."
I read it
and was very upset. For the first time in my life I was up against gender
discrimination.
Though I
was not keen on taking up the job, I saw it as a challenge. I had done
extremely well in academics, better than most of my male peers. Little did I
know then that in real life academic excellence is not enough to be successful.
After
reading the notice I went fuming to my room. I decided to inform the topmost
person in Telco's management about the injustice the company was perpetrating.
I got a postcard and started to write, but there was a problem: I did not know
who headed Telco.
I thought
it must be one of the Tatas. I knew JRD Tata was the head of the Tata Group; I
had seen his pictures in newspapers (actually, Sumant Moolgaokar was the
company's chairman then). I took the card, addressed it to JRD and started
writing. To this day I remember clearly what I wrote.
"The
great Tatas have always been pioneers. They are the people who started the
basic infrastructure industries in
I posted
the letter and forgot about it. Less than 10 days later, I received a telegram
stating that I had to appear for an interview at Telco's Pune facility at the
company's expense. I was taken aback by the telegram. My hostel mate told me I
should use the opportunity to go to Pune free of cost and buy them the famous
Pune saris for cheap! I collected Rs 30 each from everyone who wanted a sari.
When I look back, I feel like laughing at the reasons for my going, but back
then they seemed good enough to make the trip.
It was my
first visit to Pune and I immediately fell in love with the city.
To this
day it remains dear to me. I feel as much at home in Pune as I do in Hubli, my
hometown. The place changed my life in so many ways. As directed, I went to
Telco's Pimpri office for the interview.
There
were six people on the panel and I realised then that this was serious
business.
"This
is the girl who wrote to JRD," I heard somebody whisper as soon as I
entered the room. By then I knew for sure that I would not get the job. The
realisation abolished all fear from my mind, so I was rather cool while the
interview was being conducted.
Even
before the interview started, I reckoned the panel was biased, so I told them,
rather impolitely, "I hope this is only a technical interview."
They were
taken aback by my rudeness, and even today I am ashamed about my attitude. The
panel asked me technical questions and I answered all of them.
Then an
elderly gentleman with an affectionate voice told me, "Do you know why we
said lady candidates need not apply? The reason is that we have never employed
any ladies on the shop floor. This is not a co-ed college; this is a factory.
When it comes to academics, you are a first ranker throughout. We appreciate
that, but people like you should work in research laboratories."
I was a
young girl from small-town Hubli. My world had been a limited place.
I did not
know the ways of large corporate houses and their difficulties, so I answered,
"But you must start somewhere, otherwise no woman will ever be able to
work in your factories."
Finally,
after a long interview, I was told I had been successful. So this was what the
future had in store for me. Never had I thought I would take up a job in Pune.
I met a shy young man from Karnataka there, we became good friends and we got
married.
It was
only after joining Telco that I realized who JRD was: the uncrowned king of Indian
industry. Now I was scared, but I did not get to meet him till I was
transferred to
I was
feeling very nervous, remembering my postcard episode. SM introduced me nicely,
"Jeh (that's what his close associates called him), this young woman is an
engineer and that too a postgraduate.
She is
the first woman to work on the Telco shop floor." JRD looked at me. I was
praying he would not ask me any questions about my interview (or the postcard
that preceded it).
Thankfully,
he didn't. Instead, he remarked. "It is nice that girls are getting into
engineering in our country. By the way, what is your name?"
"When
I joined Telco I was Sudha Kulkarni, Sir," I replied. "Now I am Sudha
Murthy." He smiled and kindly smile and started a discussion with SM. As
for me, I almost ran out of the room.
After
that I used to see JRD on and off. He was the Tata Group chairman and I was
merely an engineer. There was nothing that we had in common. I was in awe of
him.
One day I
was waiting for Murthy, my husband, to pick me up after office hours. To my
surprise I saw JRD standing next to me. I did not know how to react. Yet again
I started worrying about that postcard. Looking back, I realise JRD had
forgotten about it. It must have been a small incident for him, but not so for
me.
"Young
lady, why are you here?" he asked. "Office time is over." I
said, "Sir, I'm waiting for my husband to come and pick me up." JRD
said, "It is getting dark and there's no one in the corridor.
I'll wait
with you till your husband comes."
I was
quite used to waiting for Murthy, but having JRD waiting alongside made me
extremely uncomfortable.
I was
nervous. Out of the corner of my eye I looked at him. He wore a simple white
pant and shirt. He was old, yet his face was glowing. There wasn't any air of
superiority about him. I was thinking, "Look at this person. He is a
chairman, a well-respected man in our country and he is waiting for the sake of
an ordinary employee."
Then I
saw Murthy and I rushed out. JRD called and said, "Young lady, tell your
husband never to make his wife wait again." In 1982 I had to resign from
my job at Telco. I was reluctant to go, but I really did not have a choice. I
was coming down the steps of Bombay House after wrapping up my final settlement
when I saw JRD coming up. He was absorbed in thought. I wanted to say goodbye
to him, so I stopped. He saw me and paused.
Gently,
he said, "So what are you doing, Mrs Kulkarni?" (That was the way he
always addressed me.) "Sir, I am leaving Telco."
"Where
are you going?" he asked. "Pune, Sir. My husband is starting a
company called Infosys and I'm shifting to Pune."
"Oh!
And what will you do when you are successful."
"Sir,
I don't know whether we will be successful." "Never start with
diffidence," he advised me. "Always start with confidence. When you
are successful you must give back to society. Society gives us so much; we must
reciprocate. I wish you all the best."
Then JRD
continued walking up the stairs. I stood there for what seemed like a
millennium. That was the last time I saw him alive. Many years later I met
Ratan Tata in the same Bombay House, occupying the chair JRD once did. I told
him of my many sweet memories of working with Telco. Later, he wrote to me,
"It was nice hearing about Jeh from you. The sad part is that he's not
alive to see you today."
I
consider JRD a great man because, despite being an extremely busy person, he
valued one postcard written by a young girl seeking justice. He must have
received thousands of letters everyday. He could have thrown mine away, but he
didn't do that. He respected the intentions of that unknown girl, who had
neither influence nor money, and gave her an opportunity in his company. He did
not merely give her a job; he changed her life and mindset forever.
Close to
50 per cent of the students in today's engineering colleges are girls. And
there are women on the shop floor in many industry segments. I see these
changes and I think of JRD. If at all time stops and asks me what I want from
life, I would say I wish JRD were alive today to see how the company we started
has grown. He would have enjoyed it wholeheartedly.
My love and respect for the House of Tata remains undiminished by the passage of time. I always looked up to JRD. I saw him as a role model for his simplicity, his generosity, his kindness and the care he took of his employees. Those blue eyes always reminded me of the sky; they had the same vastness and magnificence.
NB: Sudha
Murthy is a widely published writer and chairperson of the Infosys Foundation
involved in a number of social development initiatives. Infosys chairman Narayana
Murthy is her husband.
Article
sourced from: clueless-co.com
Check also at: Lady
candidates need not apply