First five volumes of Murty Classical Library published

Funded by the son of Infosys billionaire Narayana Murthy, Rohan (who spells his last name differently), the Murty Library aims “to present the greatest literary works of India from the past two millennia to the largest readership in the world” and “to reintroduce these works, a part of world literature’s treasured heritage, to a new generation.”

The Murthys (senior), fellow Infosys billionaire Nandan Nilekani and Azim Premji of Wipro have been the most active of India’s billionaires in their charitable and philanthropic work. Regretfully, they are exceptions among India’s wealthy, for whom charity at most means building temples or expensive hospitals, and it is encouraging that the younger Murty is giving away his money in this fashion.