'Sudha Murty is so humble...': Philanthropist's '10 Downing Street' story sparks unexpected meme fest

Author and philanthropist Sudha Murty recently revealed on ‘The Kapil Sharma Show’ that a British immigration officer refused to believe that she was the mother-in-law of UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, which instantly triggered unexpectedly hilarious jokes on Twitter.  

“Once when I had gone to UK, they asked me my residential address. 'Where are you staying in London?' My elder sister was with me and I thought should I write '10 Downing Street'. My son also lives there (in the UK), but I didn't remember his complete address. So, I finally wrote 10 Downing Street,” said the former Infosys Foundation chairperson.

10 Downing Street is the official residence and office of the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom. Akshata, daughter of Sudha Murty and Infosys founder NR Narayana Murthy, is married to Rishi Sunak, who was elected as the PM of UK last year.

Murty said that the immigration officer looked at her incredulously and asked “Are you joking?”

She replied, "Nahi, sachchi bolti hu" (No, I am telling you the truth). On the episode, she was joined by producer Guneet Monga, who recently won an Oscar for her film 'The Elephant Whisperers' and actor Raveena Tandon, who was awarded the fourth highest civilian award, Padma Shri.

This comment of her on ‘The Kapil Sharma Show’ was followed by some hilarious reactions and memes by the netizens on Twitter, some that were critical too. Some Twitter users said Murty was displaying 'fake' humility with such anecdotes to illustrate her 'simplicity'. They said she's going out of her way to show she's not a billionaire and just a middle-class person.

"Sudha Murty is one of the country's richest people yet she breathes oxygen. Simplicity Pro Max," quipped a Twitter user.

The former Infosys Foundation chairperson also recalled an incident where two business class passengers at Heathrow Airport brushed her aside because of her apparel.

Murty recalled being referred to as “Cattle Class” simply because she had chosen to wear a salwar-kameez. In her experience, wearing salwar kameez or sarees had her labelled as “didi” or “behenji”.

“What do these economy class people know of Business Class?” Murty recalls hearing.

The Padma Bhushan winner immediately confronted the person on their statement, asking them, “What is cattle class?”

She criticised the mentality that class was derived from the money a person possesses.

“Class is not defined this way that if you have money, you have class,” Murty said, criticising the sentiment.

 Several users came out in her support too. "Why people are trolling her unnecessarily? She don't deserve this much hate. Everyone have their own perception and she said nothing wrong to be trolled. Her company is the second largest employer in Country. If can't respect at least don't troll," said one user.

Sudha Murty was recently conferred the Padma Bhushan at Rashtrapati Bhavan in New Delhi, the third-highest civilian award in India. She has also been honoured with numerous other awards for her contribution to social work and literature. She has also established several foundations that provide education and healthcare to underprivileged communities in India.