Detailing the sacrifices and tough decisions made by her and her husband Narayana Murthy to set up Infosys, author and philanthropist Sudha Murty revealed she had to live away from her daughter Akshata, when she was just 90 days old.
In an exclusive interview with NDTV, Ms Murty said the couple moved to Mumbai when the tech company, which is now valued at $83.92 billion, was in its nascent stage. "Between the two of us, one person had to bring the bread to the table and I was not certain how things would turn out," she said.
Unsure about their future, Ms Murty said she asked herself what was the "best solution" to their situation. "When you want to achieve something, you will have a lot of challenges. You have to ask yourself what is the best way I can do? I felt it was better that my child grow up with her grandparents," she said.
With baby Akshata in her arms, Ms Murty took a flight from Mumbai and left her three-month-old with her parents and sister. "I told my 56-year-old mother and my 32-year-old sister that from today onwards, you will be her mothers. It was a very difficult decision for me to leave her," she added.
"Infosys was not built in a day by a magic wand. It needed sacrifice and separation. When you build a company, when you build an empire, it requires most difficult challenges," the 73-year-old author said.
UK's first lady and venture capitalist, Akshata Murty grew up in Karnataka's Hubli with her grandparents. When asked about Akshata calling him a "bonus father", Narayana Murthy agreed with his wife, saying sacrifices are inevitable when you aspire to do "something worthwhile."
"It is true that I was away from my children and my wife. But if you want to do something worthwhile, then it is always necessary to prioritise it as your number one objective, and then keep other objectives below that. While it is true, that I and my children missed out on quite a lot, even during my busy days I made sure that I spent some quality time with my children. I have always believed that quality is more important than quantity," he added.