When Sudha Murty, in salwar kameez, was called 'Behenji' at London airport

Sudha Murty is an accomplished author and philanthropist.

Sudha Murty, author and philanthropist, recently recounted the infamous incident of classism she faced at London’s Heathrow airport a few years ago, when two women co-passengers judged her by her appearance and termed her “cattle class”.

Appearing on “The Kapil Sharma Show”, Murty, who is married to Infosys co-founder NR Narayana Murthy recalled her airport experience while returning to Bengaluru from London.

“I was at the Heathrow airport in a salwar kameez. I had a business class ticket and was standing in the queue,” she said in Hindi when actor Archana Puran Singh, a judge on the show, asked her about the encounter.

“They (two co-passengers) felt that if you wear a saree or a salwar kameez, you are a didi or behenji.”

“They said, ‘Behenji, this is not your queue. The economy (queue) is that side. You should wait there,” Sudha Murty said.

When Murty said she decided to feign ignorance and did not move out of the business class queue, the women allegedly said, “They are cattle class people”.

Eventually, Murty, 72, showed her ticket to the airline staff, was greeted by the crew and allowed to proceed in the business class queue.

She then went up to her two co-passengers and asked them, “What is cattle class?”

“Class is not defined by the money one has… People who work hard are the ones who have class. It’s not about money,” she said on the show.

Murty, who was recently awarded the Padma Shri, India's fourth highest civilian, shared another anecdote about an immigration officer in the UK who refused to believe her residential address when she wrote "10 Downing Street" on the form. 10 Downing Street is the official residence and office of the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom. Sudha Murty's daughter, Akshata, is married to Rishi Sunak, who currently resides at 10 Downing Street.