Sudha Murthy is the Chairman of the non-profit Infosys Foundation. She gave up her career and personal life to help NR Narayana Murthy make his vision about Infosys a reality. Sudha is a renowned Indian poet, too.
Taking from her personal experiences Sudha Murty sheds light on some of the prevalent prejudices in society in her new book “Three Thousand Stitches: Ordinary People, Exceptional Lives.” In this extract from the novel, industrialist Narayana Murthy’s otherwise calm 66-year-old wife gives a piece of her mind to her fellow traveller as she was called a cattle class guy’ at Heathrow airport.
An essence from her book “Three Thousand Stitches: Ordinary People, Exceptional Lives” is the following.
Last year, I was about to board a flight at Heathrow International Airport, London. Typically, even when I’m abroad, I wear a sari but I prefer to wear a kameez salwar while I’m travelling. So there I was— a senior citizen at the terminal entrance, dressed in traditional Indian attire.
Since the boarding hadn’t begun, I sat down and started noticing my surroundings. The flight was bound for Bengaluru and I was able to hear people talking around me in Kannada. I saw many old married couples of my age—they most likely came back from the United States or the United Kingdom after either supporting their children through childbirth or a new home. I saw some British business executives debating the success of India with one another. Some teens were busy with the gadgets in their hands while the younger kids cried or raced about the room.
The boarding announcement was made after a few minutes, and I joined the queue. Before me, the woman was a well-groomed lady in an Indo-Western silk dress, a Gucci handbag and high heels. Every single strand of her hair was in place and a friend stood beside her in a luxurious silk sari, pearl necklace, matching earrings and delicate diamond bangles.
I glanced at a nearby vending machine and wondered if I was supposed to leave the line to get some soda.
The woman in front of me suddenly turned sideways and stared at me with what seemed sad in her eyes. Extending her hand, she asked,’ Please, can I see your boarding pass? I was about to give her my pass, but since she didn’t appear to be an airline employee, I asked,’ Why?’
‘Well, this line is only meant for business-class travellers,’ she said confidently, pointing her finger to the queue of economy class. You should go there and stand,’ she said.
I was about to tell her I had a ticket for a business class but held back on second thoughts. I only wanted to know why she felt I wasn’t qualified to be in the business class. So I said again, ‘Why do I have to stand there?
She was sighing. Let me just explain. The price of an economy and a business class ticket differ greatly. The latter costs nearly two and a half times as much as. ‘I think this is three times as much,’ interrupted her friend.
Exactly’ the woman said. So there are other advantages associated with a trip to a business class.” Really?’ I decided I was mischievous and pretended I didn’t know. You talk about what kind of privileges? She appeared frustrated. There are two bags that we are allowed to bring but you can only take one. We may embark from another, less crowded queue on the train. We get better meals and better seats. We are able to extend the seats and lie flat on them. We always have TV screens and to a small number of passengers there are four washrooms.’
Her friend added,’ Our bags have a priority check-in facility, which means they’ll come first upon arrival and we’re getting more frequent flyer miles for the same trip.’ Now that you know the difference, you can go to the economy line,’ the woman insisted.
But I don’t want to go in there.’ I’ve been firm.
The lady has turned towards her friend. ‘It is difficult to argue with these people of the cattle classes. Let the staff come over and show her where to go. She won’t listen to us».
I didn’t get offended. The term ‘ cattle class’ was like a blast from the past, reminding me of a different incident.
One day in my home city of Bengaluru I had gone to an upscale dinner party. Numerous local celebrities and socialites attended. I was talking to some guests in Kannada when a man came to me and said in English very slowly and clearly,’ Can I introduce myself? I’m a. .’ It was clear that he felt I might have a problem with the language. I just grinned. My English you may talk to me.’
Oh,’ he said, quite flabbergasted. Excuse me. I thought you weren’t happy with English because I heard you speak in Kannada.” Knowing one’s native language is nothing shameful. It really is my right and my privilege. I just speak English when there is someone who can’t understand Kannada.’
The queue at the airport before me began to move forward and I got out of my reverie. The two women ahead whispered among themselves,’ Now she’s going to be sent onto the other side. Now it is so long! We tried to tell her but she refused to listen to us.’ When it was my turn to show the attendant my boarding pass, I saw them stop and wait for a short distance, waiting to see what was going to happen.
The attendant took my boarding pass and softly said,’ Welcome back! We met last week, have we not? Yes,’ answered I. She grinned, then went on to the next voyageur.
I walked a few steps ahead of the woman who wanted to let this go, but then I changed my mind and returned. Tell me, please — what made you think I couldn’t afford a ticket for business class? Even if I had not one, was it really your prerogative to tell me where I was supposed to stand? Did I ask for your help?’
The women quietly looked at me. ‘You use the word ‘class of cattle’ Class doesn’t mean owning huge amounts of money,’ I continued, unable to stop giving them a piece of my mind. There’s plenty of wrong ways in this world to make money. You may be rich enough to buy luxuries and luxury, but the same wealth doesn’t determine the class or offer you the ability to buy it. Mother Teresa was a sophisticated lady. So is the famous Indian-born mathematician Manjul Bhargava. The idea that you automatically achieve status by earning money is an obsolete method of thought.’
