Narayana Murthy's Daughter Akshata Considered Him "Bonus Dad": Book

Narayana Murthy's recent comments about the need to work for 70 hours a week sparked a huge debate, with many social media users appearing divided. The 77-year-old Infosys co-founder also revealed that in his early year, he used to work really hard - more than 12 hours a week. This long work schedule caused Mr Murthy to sacrifice spending time with his family. Now, US-based Indian-origin writer Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni has touched upon Mr Murthy's personal life in her upcoming book 'An Uncommon Love: The Early Life of Sudha and Narayana Murthy'.

In an article written for Times of India, in which she shared some excerpts from the biography, Ms Divakaruni said when he was away from his family, Mr Murthy's children Akshata and Rohan Murty dearly missed him.

The book also mentions that the children would spend weeks without listening to his voice as back then, phone calls to the US would cost Rs 32 per minute.

So, while growing up, Akshata Murthy considered her grandfather as her "real dad", while her father was a "bonus dad", according to Ms Divakaruni's book.

The author also mentioned an interesting conversation between Rohan and Mr Murthy, who was in the US. "Who do you love more - me and Akshata, or Infosys?" he asked him. The Infosys co-founder replied, "Of course, I love you both the most." He could, however, see that neither Rohan nor Akshata Murty was convinced, according to the book.

Published by Juggernaut Books, 'An Uncommon Love: The Early Life of Sudha and Narayana Murthy' is the story of the Murthys' early years - from their courtship to Infosys' founding years and from their marriage to parenthood.

The book also mentions how Mr Murthy was averse to his wife joining Infosys in spite of being a fine engineer who knew she could contribute far more solidly to the company than helping with only the odds and ends that her husband assigned to her.