Narayana Murthy, the founder of Infosys, once opposed his wife Sudha Murty from joining the IT firm even when he believed that she was a great engineer and could offer far more solidly to the company.

This is detailed in the biography “An Uncommon Love: The Early Life of Sudha and Narayana Murthy,” authored by Indian-American writer Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni and published by Juggernaut Books, PTI reported.

The book recounts not only the professional journey of Murthy but also delves into the personal aspects of his life with his wife, Sudha Murty. It paints a picture of their early years, from courtship to the founding of Infosys, and from marriage to parenthood.

During a candid dinner table conversation, when Murthy’s wife asked to work at Infosys, he firmly declined, stating, “I’m sorry. You can’t work at Infosys.”

Murthy told his wife that she is very competent and that no one has her level of determination, but that if she joins, “Infosys will become a husband-and-wife firm rather than a professional company.”

Divakaruni says that while Sudha and Murthy had a lot in common due to their shared Kannada upbringing and love of literature, their very diverse childhoods shaped them in very distinct ways.

The book also mentioned how Narayana Murthy also faced a very weird situation during the nascent stages of his company. While on a business trip to the United States, he encountered a particularly difficult client, Donn Liles, who was the head of Data Basics Corporation in New York. Despite having four vacant bedrooms in his home, Liles made Murthy sleep in a large box in a windowless storeroom surrounded by cartons.

“He would often delay payments when he could, and Murthy would then be the target of his ire because he would hold his ground, refusing to budge on timely payment for services. Or Donn would not provide timely authorization for Murthy and his Infosys colleagues to book hotels when they had to visit him in Manhattan.

“Once when Murthy visited the US for client work, Donn made him sleep on a large box in the storeroom, surrounded by cartons, though his home had four bedrooms. Additionally, Murthy had to manage Donn’s many last-minute demands for resources,” author Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni says in the book.

Murthy put up with Donn’s conduct for the sake of his young business, but the box incident horrified him.

“My mother used to say that a guest was like God, and the way you treated your guests revealed what kind of person you really were,” he told wife Sudha.

“When my father invited someone over without advance notice, she often served the guest her own food and went to sleep without dinner. And here was Donn enjoying a good night’s sleep in his luxurious bed after making me spend the night on a big box in a windowless storeroom,” he said, leaving Sudha furious.

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