Murali Murthy and Shalu Kapur-Creating a Legacy One Step at a Time

Murali Murthy and Shalu Kapur live (and give generously) in Canada, yet their magnanimous acts extend to India, where they both were born.

After several areas of India were devastated by a tsunami on December 26, 2004, children were left homeless without parents. Murali and Shalu learned local townspeople were caring for these orphans in a single home. Retirees volunteered to help the children. Village residents contributed cash. Murali and Shalu also sent money. They wanted to do more.

In 2016, a local temple in Wayanad donated land for an orphanage. Murali and Shalu's dream of constructing an orphanage for the children began. Each year from 2016 to 2019, Murali and Shalu visited India in January, but for the most part, they financially supported and oversaw operations from Canada.

Children are welcome to live at the orphanage until they graduate from school. Its name, Sri Guruji Balaashramam, has special meaning. Sri is a title of respect; Guruji pays homage to a guru or mentor/coach; whereas Balaashramam conveys children and home. Murali sums it up as “a mentorship orphanage for children.”

“Anything can happen” Murali remarks. Professionally and personally, he is dedicated to making things happen. And there’s good reason for that. He strongly believes in leaving a legacy, especially after he was involved in a motor vehicle accident in 2008 and spent a year in ICU. He firmly believes, “God kept me alive for a reason.”

Murali and Shalu recognize their purpose – giving back professionally and personally – and doing so with their heads and hearts. Together, with the love and support of family and friends, the inspiration and integrity of fellow IBOs, Murali and Shalu made it through a critical period in their lives.

Murali and Shalu agree their hope and faith carried them through this dark period and spurred them into acting on their benevolent dreams. “We’ve only begun. There’s more we can do to empower others so they can build better lives. Our Amway business has given us so much, including the passion to give back. We hope to build another orphanage or a school in India. Whatever we do, we want it to have a long-lasting positive impact.”