Infosys co-founder Nandan Nilekani on how he met his wife at a quiz competition

Infosys co-founder Nandan Nilekani said that he met his wife at a quiz competition in 1977 at Mumbai’s Elphinstone College. He told Nikhil Kamath in his podcast WTF, “We had a quiz competition, I was representing IIT and the quiz was (hosted) at Elphinstone College. That’s how I met her.” IIT had “obviously” won the competition, he shared. He added, “Obviously, we won the quiz… That’s how I met her way back in 1977.”
At the time, Nandan Nilekani said he was the “boring guy” while Rohini was more spontaneous, emotional, and “mercurial”. When asked if Rohini was the more outspoken of the two, Nandan Nilekani said that she is more “more spontaneous, more emotional and even mercurial,” compared to him as “I’m the more sedate, boring type.”
He also said that his wife, who is a former journalist, is an “environmental philanthropist”. He said, “Environment is a big theme for her philanthropy. She is the biggest, probably, the only environmental philanthropist in India now.”
Rohini and Nandan Nilekani have two children, Nihar and Janhavi. In 2023, Rohini Nilekani became the only woman to make it to the top 10 of Hurun’s top Philanthropist List. The couple are also members of Microsoft founder Bill Gates and Melinda French Gates’s Giving Pledge.
Explaining their decision to join the Giving Pledge movement, the couple said, “We see that inequality is increasing sharply in most countries. We see the young and the restless in this interconnected globe, unsure of their future, wanting more but anticipating less. We see a growing politics of polarization, of divisions, of brinksmanship. It is as if the world holds its breath. What should we do at this time? That is a question every citizen must ask. Those of us who have wealth beyond all our wants must ask that very sharply. Wealth comes with huge responsibility and is best deployed for the larger public interest. So what must the super-wealthy do?”