Sudha Murty recalls a 'mistaken' phone call from Abdul Kalam: 'Thought it was for Narayana Murthy'

Former President APJ Abdul Kalam presents the Padma Shri Award to Sudha Murty in 2006. (Image credit: PIB)

Sudha Murty on Tuesday recollected a day when she received a call from the late President APJ Abdul Kalam and thought that the call was made to her by mistake, and was meant for her husband Narayana Murthy. It turned out that Kalam had indeed called her to praise one of her columns published in a leading daily.

Taking to X, the author and former chairperson of Infosys Foundation, shared a snippet of her conversation recorded during a show. "One day, I got a call saying that Mr Abdul Kalam wants to speak to you. I told wrong number because I don't have anything with Abdul Kalam," she said. "I told the operator that there might have been a mistake. It (the call) might be for Narayana Murthy so instead of Mr Murthy you have connected to Mrs Murty."

She was then told that Kalam indeed wanted to speak with her. That worried her. As she wondered what she might have done wrong to receive the call when the former President came on the line.

"He said he read my column on IT divide and it made him laugh. He said it's a fantastic column," she added.

Later, in March 2006, as President, Abdul Kalam presented the Padma Shri Award to Sudha Murty.

Once I received a call from Mr. Abdul Kalam, who told me that he reads my columns and enjoys them. pic.twitter.com/SWEQ6zfeu4

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— Smt. Sudha Murty (@SmtSudhaMurty) June 25, 2024

Elaborating on what inspired her to write the article, Sudha Murty said that once when she was at a store, buying mangoes that the shopkeeper had said were worth Rs 100 a dozen. But when a student of hers, who was a software engineer at Infosys, also wanted to buy the same mangoes, she was charged Rs 200 a dozen.

When she questioned the shopkeeper, he apparently said: "You're a school teacher, you don't understand. She is an IT person, you know. She works at a big company, Infosys. That's why it's Rs 200 for her."