Sudha Murty: India's favourite storyteller

Well-known educator, author, philanthropist and chairperson of the Infosys Foundation, Sudha Murty was in Jaipur on Thursday where she shared the secrets of how she became a storyteller and a writer.

At an event titled 'In Conversation with Sudha Murty', organised jointly by Rajat Book Corner and Puffin Books in collaboration with FICCI Flo, Murty said, "When I was young, I used to live in a small village in Karnataka. Due to lack of electricity, I used to listen to stories from my grandmother for hours. I learnt to imagine from that phase of life. In my stories, the characters and places are all real, but the stories are fictional. When you learn to imagine, you can prepare yourself to become a writer. For me, writing about my life experiences is my favorite genre. When I write a book, I become a child myself."

Murty, who's married to the co-founder of Infosys, N.R. Narayana Murthy, discussed some of her old writings, new book 'The Magic of Lost Story' and life experiences at the special event organised at the Totuka Bhawan here.

The highlight of the programme was a panel discussion involving children from Jaipur, Hyderabad and Mussoorie, who not only asked Murty questions, but also reminded her of her childhood, and her innocence and mischievousness.

"I take out time from writing books, travelling and my foundation to watch movies. Earlier, I used to keep many DVDs, but today in the era of OTT, DVDs are not that useful anymore. But I have still kept the DVDs of some of my favourite movies. I love watching Hindi films, they teach you to be in sync with imagination," said Murty, who was awarded the Padma Shri for social work in 2006.

Earlier, Mohit Batra from the Rajat Book Corner and Jayanthi Dalmiya and Mudrika Dhoka from FICCI Flo welcomed Murthy at the programme. "There is no age to become a writer, just inspire the world with your characters," Murty said on her writing experience.