An eminent author, entrepreneur and a philanthropist, Sudha Murthy is someone I look up to substantially. She is a simpleton at heart with a conscientious towards life. Academically ingenious, she was the first female engineer to be hired by TELCO after she wrote a postcard to them complaining about gender bias at the company which restricted women from applying for the job. After her successful interview, she was told women weren’t allowed as it was a factory to which she replied, “ But you must start somewhere, otherwise no woman will ever be able to work in your factories.”
During the time when women weren’t considered at par with men, she stood up for herself and made her place in the male-dominated industry, proving she was way ahead of her time. Another infamous incidence from her life is the one at the Heathrow airport where she was humiliated by a lady for wearing a Salwar Kameez which according to her was a misfit and called her a ‘cattle-class.’
There are many people who label the women dressing in traditional clothes as ‘cattle-class.’ It is ridiculous to judge someone based on their clothes or money, for that matter. The thought that you acquire class by possession of money or expensive clothes is outdated. You are not modern in the clothes you wear but your thoughts. I recently read her novel Mahashweta, which deals with vitiligo. The protagonist Anupama is outcasted because of her skin condition, yet she rises like a phoenix and stands as a role model to the stigmatized. She has a writing prowess that leaves you overwhelmed. Simple stories that beautifully unravel the complexities a woman’s life. Her books give a befitting reply to the prejudices a society has towards a woman.
