Rajya Sabha MP and author-philanthropist Sudha Murty recently related how she unexpectedly received a call from former president APJ Abdul Kalam. At first, she believed it was an error. She thought the call was for her husband, Narayana Murthy, but it was actually from APJ Abdul Kalam, praising one of her articles that had appeared in a famous daily. She tweeted a picture of Kalam giving her the Padma Shri in 2006 using her official X account.
An episode of the chat that was taped for the show was shared by the former chairwoman of the Infosys Foundation. One day, Sudha Murty said, she got a call telling her that Abdul Kalam wanted to speak with her. Murty told the authorities that she didn’t have anything to do with Abdul Kalam.
She informed the operator that it appeared to be the “wrong number” and that there may have been a “mistake.”
Mrs Murty told the operator that they had connected her to Mrs. Murty instead of Mr. Murthy, thinking the call was for Narayana Murthy. Sudha Murty was later informed that Abdul Kalam had specifically requested to speak with her. She said, “I got worried and wondered why Abdul Kalam was calling me.”
It turned out Abdul Kalam had called to praise one of her columns. He mentioned he had read her column on the “IT divide” and loved it, calling it fantastic. He also said he always reads her columns.
The post has nearly 30,000 views on the social media platform X.
Once I received a call from Mr. Abdul Kalam, who told me that he reads my columns and enjoys them. pic.twitter.com/SWEQ6zfeu4
— Smt. Sudha Murty (@SmtSudhaMurty) June 25, 2024
A publication reported that in order to clarify the idea behind her writing, Sudha Murty related an incident that happened while she was purchasing mangoes at a store that charged Rs 100 for a dozen. Nevertheless, she was quoted Rs 200 per dozen when one of her former students—now a software engineer at Infosys—wanted to purchase the same mangoes.
The shopkeeper claimed that Murty wouldn’t comprehend because he was a “school teacher” when Murty questioned him. He clarified that the additional Rs 200 was charged for the other customer since she was an IT specialist employed by the big company Infosys.
Murty, who is well-known for her contributions to English and Kannada literature, is a prolific novelist who primarily writes for young readers. She has received several honors, including the Padma Bhushan (2023), the Sahitya Akademi Bal Sahitya Puraskar, and the Padma Shri (2006).
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