Have Passion! It was probably the April of 1974.

Bangalore was getting warm and gulmohars were blooming at the IISc campus. I was the only girl in my postgraduate department and was staying at the ladies' hostel. ther girls were pursuing research in different departments of Science. I was loo!ing forward to going abroad to complete a doctorate in computer science. I had been offered scholarships from "ni#ersities in the "S... I had not thought of ta!ing up a $ob in India. ne day% while on the way to my hostel from our lecture& hall comple'% I saw an ad#ertisement on the notice board. It was a standard $ob&re(uirement notice from the famous automobile company )elco *now )ata +otors,... It stated that the company re(uired young% bright engineers% hardwor!ing and with an e'cellent academic bac!ground% etc. At the bottom was a small line- '.ady /andidates need not apply.' I read it and was #ery upset. 0or the first time in my life I was up against gender discrimination. )hough I was not !een on ta!ing up the $ob% I saw it as a challenge. I had done e'tremely well in academics% better

than most of my male peers... .ittle did I !now then that in real life academic e'cellence is not enough to be successful1 After reading the notice I went fuming to my room. I decided to inform the topmost person in )elco's management about the in$ustice the company was perpetrating. I got a postcard and started to write% but there was a problem- I did not !now who headed )elco I thought it must be one of the )atas. I !new 234 )ata was the head of the )ata 5roup6 I had seen his pictures in newspapers *actually% Sumant +oolgao!ar was the company's chairman then, I too! the card% addressed it to 234 and started writing. )o this day I remember clearly what I wrote. ')he great )atas ha#e always been pioneers. )hey are the people who started the basic infrastructure industries in India% such as iron and steel% chemicals% te'tiles and locomoti#es they ha#e cared for higher education in India since 1977 and they were responsible for the establishment of the Indian Institute of Science. 0ortunately% I study there. But I am surprised how a company such as )elco is discriminating on the basis of gender.' I posted the letter and forgot about it. .ess than 17 days later% I recei#ed a telegram stating that I had to appear for an inter#iew at )elco's 8une facility at the company's e'pense. I was ta!en abac! by the telegram. +y hostel mate told me I should use the opportunity to go to 8une

free of cost and buy them the famous 8une saris for cheap9 I collected 3s:7 each from e#eryone who wanted a sari when I loo! bac!% I feel li!e laughing at the reasons for my going% but bac! then they seemed good enough to ma!e the trip. It was my first #isit to 8une and I immediately fell in lo#e with the city. )o this day it remains dear to me. I feel as much at home in 8une as I do in ;ubli% my hometown. )he place changed my life in so many ways. As directed% I went to )elco's 8impri office for the inter#iew. )here were si' people on the panel and I reali<ed then that this was serious business. ')his is the girl who wrote to 234%' I heard somebody whisper as soon as I entered the room. By then I !new for sure that I would not get the $ob. )he reali<ation abolished all fear from my mind% so I was rather cool while the inter#iew was being conducted. =#en before the inter#iew started% I rec!oned the panel was biased% so I told them% rather impolitely% 'I hope this is only a technical inter#iew.' )hey were ta!en abac! by my rudeness% and e#en today I am ashamed about my attitude. )he panel as!ed me technical (uestions and I answered all of them.

)hen an elderly gentleman with an affectionate #oice told me% '4o you !now why we said lady candidates need not apply1 )he reason is that we ha#e ne#er employed any ladies on the shop floor. )his is not a co&ed college6 this is a factory. >hen it comes to academics% you are a first ran!er throughout. >e appreciate that% but people li!e you should wor! in research laboratories. I was a young girl from small&town ;ubli. +y world had been a limited place. I did not !now the ways of large corporate houses and their difficulties% so I answered% 'But you must start somewhere% otherwise no woman will e#er be able to wor! in your factories.' 0inally% after a long inter#iew% I was told I had been successful. So this was what the future had in store for me. ?e#er had I thought I would ta!e up a $ob in 8une. I met a shy young man from @arnata!a there% we became good friends and we got married. It was only after $oining )elco that I reali<ed who 234 wasthe uncrowned !ing of Indian industry. ?ow I was scared% but I did not get to meet him till I was transferred to Bombay. ne day I had to show some reports to +r +oolgao!ar% our chairman% who we all !new as S+. I was in his office on the first floor of Bombay ;ouse *the )ata head(uarters, when% suddenly 234 wal!ed in. )hat was the first time I saw 'appro 234'. Appro means 'our' in 5u$arati.

)his was the affectionate term by which people at Bombay ;ouse called him. I was feeling #ery ner#ous% remembering my postcard episode. S+ introduced me nicely% '2eh *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 wor! on the )elco shop floor.' 234 loo!ed at me. I was praying he would not as! me any (uestions about my inter#iew *or the postcard that preceded it,. )han!fully% he didn't. Instead% he remar!ed. 'It is nice that girls are getting into engineering in our country. By the way% what is your name1' '>hen I $oined )elco I was Sudha @ul!arni% Sir%' I replied. '?ow I am Sudha +urthy.' ;e smiled and !indly smile and started a discussion with S+. As for me% I almost ran out of the room. After that I used to see 234 on and off. ;e was the )ata 5roup chairman and I was merely an engineer. )here was nothing that we had in common. I was in awe of him. ne day I was waiting for +urthy% my husband% to pic! me up after office hours. )o my surprise I saw 234 standing ne't to me. I did not !now how to react. Aet again I started worrying about that postcard. .oo!ing bac!% I reali<e 234 had forgotten about it. It must ha#e been a small incident

for him% but not so for me. 'Aoung lady% why are you here1' he as!ed. ' ffice time is o#er.' I said% 'Sir% I'm waiting for my husband to come and pic! me up.' 234 said% 'It is getting dar! and there's no one in the corridor. I'll wait with you till your husband comes.' I was (uite used to waiting for +urthy% but ha#ing 234 waiting alongside made me e'tremely uncomfortable. I was ner#ous. ut of the corner of my eye I loo!ed at him. ;e wore a simple white pant and shirt. ;e was old% yet his face was glowing. )here wasn't any air of superiority about him. I was thin!ing% '.oo! at this person. ;e is a chairman% a well&respected man in our country and he is waiting for the sa!e of an ordinary employee.' )hen I saw +urthy and I rushed out. 234 called and said% 'Aoung lady% tell your husband ne#er to ma!e his wife wait again.' In 19BC I had to resign from my $ob at )elco. I was reluctant to go% but I really did not ha#e a choice. I was coming down the steps of Bombay ;ouse after wrapping up my final settlement when I saw 234 coming up. ;e was absorbed in thought. I wanted to say goodbye to him% so I stopped. ;e saw me and paused. 5ently% he said% 'So what are you doing% +rs. @ul!arni1' *)hat was the way he always addressed me., 'Sir% I am lea#ing )elco.'

'>here are you going1' he as!ed. '8une% Sir. +y husband is starting a company called Infosys and I'm shifting to 8une.' ' h9 And what will you do when you are successful.' 'Sir% I don't !now whether we will be successful.' '?e#er start with diffidence%' he ad#ised me 'Always start with confidence. >hen you are successful you must gi#e bac! to society. Society gi#es us so much6 we must reciprocate. >ish you all the best.' )hen 234 continued wal!ing up the stairs. I stood there for what seemed li!e a millennium. )hat was the last time I saw him ali#e. +any years later I met 3atan )ata in the same Bombay ;ouse% occupying the chair 234 once did. I told him of my many sweet memories of wor!ing with )elco. .ater% he wrote to me% 'It was nice hearing about 2eh from you. )he sad part is that he's not ali#e to see you today.' I consider 234 a great man because% despite being an e'tremely busy person% he #alued one postcard written by a young girl see!ing $ustice. ;e must ha#e recei#ed thousands of letters e#eryday. ;e could ha#e thrown mine away% but he didn't do that. ;e respected the intentions of that un!nown girl% who had neither influence nor money% and ga#e her an opportunity in his company. ;e did not merely gi#e her a $ob6 he changed her life and mindset fore#er.

/lose to D7 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 thin! of 234. If at all time stops and as!s me what I want from life% I would say I wish 234 were ali#e today to see how the company we started has grown. ;e would ha#e en$oyed it wholeheartedly. +y lo#e and respect for the ;ouse of )ata remains undiminished by the passage of time. I always loo!ed up to 234. I saw him as a role model for his simplicity% his generosity% his !indness and the care he too! of his employees. )hose blue eyes always reminded me of the s!y6 they had the same #astness and magnificence. *Sudha +urthy is a widely published writer and chairperson of the Infosys 0oundation in#ol#ed in a number of social de#elopment initiati#es. Infosys chairman ?arayana +urthy is her husband., Article sourced from- .asting .egacies *)ata 3e#iew& Special /ommemorati#e Issue C774,% brought out by the house of )atas to commemorate the 177th birth anni#ersary of 234 )ata on 2uly C9% C774 .