Murty Vs Murthy- Sudha Murty Reveals Why Her Surname Is Spelt Different From Husband Narayana Murthy

Sudha Murty is a philanthropist and an author who is also the wife of the co-founder of Infosys, Narayana Murthy. She spells her surname differently from her husband Narayana Murthy. Though there seems to be a minor difference between hers (Murty) and her husband’s surname (Murthy), she happened to explain the reason behind spelling her surname as M-U-R-T-Y instead of the conventional M-U-R-T-H-Y, that her husband uses.

Sudha Murty recently revealed why she spells her surname differently from her husband Narayana Murthy

In an interview with CNBC-TV18, Sudha Murty said that having “t-h-y” in her surname is not in sync with the Sanskrit pronunciation of the same. Sudha Murty is a believer in the perfection of Sanskrit, she revealed,

“Sanskrit is the perfect language, and for every pronunciation, there is a letter. So when I said ‘t-h-y’ it sounds like थ”.

She also emphasized that ‘Murty’ in Sanskrit means ‘statue’ so it cannot be “t-h-y”. So, she uses “t-y” in her surname as that is accurate with the Sanskrit pronunciation. The 73-year-old bestselling author added that at the time of her marriage, she insisted on using “Murty” as her surname. She revealed that this condition was a vital aspect of her marriage agreement – a decision to preserve their cultural origins.

Earlier, in a 2015 interview with The Telegraph, Sudha Murty disclosed that her preference for “t-y” over “t-h-y” dates back to her college days with Narayana Murthy.

She recalled,

“I met Murthy long back. He was a good friend of mine. From the college days I knew him. So I used to tell Murthy, your surname is spelt wrong. He said my family’s surname is this and I shall continue like this…. And then when we decided to marry, I said Murthy, I am not convinced. Why should I be M-u-r-t-h-y? That’s the wrong spelling.”

Sudha Murty shared that she wanted to keep her maiden name, Kulkarni. However, her father had some objections and urged her to take up her husband’s surname after marriage. She agreed but stuck to her version of the correct spelling. She said,

“I was not convinced that t-h-y is the correct spelling of Murthy. So I made it M-u-r-t-y. Murthy uses t-h-y, I use t-y. When my son grew up I said, ‘Beta, your father uses the wrong spelling. Even at the Murty Classical Library, I made it M-u-r-t-y. It’s not about spellings, it’s about what I believe. If it is legally, ethically right, I feel I should do it.”

When questioned if her husband, Narayana Murthy, had any objections to this specific choice, she said he is “open-minded” and “quite modern” about such matters.

Narayana Murthy said that he had no issues with his wife and their children using a different spelling of their surname as he is very open-minded about such matters. He emphasized the importance of respecting each other’s beliefs and reaching a comprise. The billionaire said,

“We should agree to disagree without being disagreeable.”

He added throughout his life he believed that forcing his will on his wife for not picking the spelling of the surname he uses did not align with his values.

Here is the video of the said interview

 

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