Bangalore / New Delhi, Aug 10, (PTI): Infosys chief mentor N R Narayana Murty's son Rohan Murthy, a qualified engineer, also seems to know the craft of jewellery making, as he spent seven-and-a- half hours to make a platinum ring himself for fiance Lakshmi Venu.

Rohan got engaged to Venu, daughter of TVS Motor Co Chairman and Managing Director Venu Srinivasan, last week after several months of courtship. Rohan Murthy, 27, an engineering graduate from Cornell University spent seven-and-a-half hours at a forge near Rhode Island to make the platinum ring he gave to Venu.

Father of the groom-to be, Murthy, who was in the capital today confirmed this. Talking to reporters in Delhi, Murthy said, "My son Rohan and Venu's daughter Lakshmi have known each other for several months. Last Wednesday, when he landed in India, we were very surprised. Then we came to know that he has spent seven-and-a- half hours in forge in Rhode Island to produce the ring for Lakshmi. That's when we came to know that he is going to propose to her."

However, Murthy said that the date of the marriage is yet to be finalised. Talking about the wedding date, he said, "It for them. We are not part of that decision making."
Venu, 27, has a degree in Economics from Yale University and a PhD in manufacturing management from Warwick University in the UK. In Chennai, she did her schooling at Shishya.

She has maintained a keen interest in the family business and has been groomed to take greater responsibility in Sundaram Clayton (an auto component maker) and TVS Motor (India's third largest two-wheeler company).

Her mother Mallika Srinivasan is the vice-chairman of Tractors and Farm Equipment (TAFE), which crossed a consolidated turnover of Rs 4,850 crore and a volume of over 100,000 tractors last year.

Rohan Murthy is a Microsoft fellow, pursuing PhD in Computer Science from Harvard University. He has completed schooling from Bishop Cotton Boys' School in Bangalore. The Murthy family has about 4.5 per cent stake in Infosys Technologies, which has a market capitalisation of Rs 164,368 crore. Rohan reportedly has 1.39 per cent with over 79 lakh shares in the company that his father co-founded.