Nothing could have been as delightful and heartwarming as attending Sudha Murthy’s session, the first thing in the morning. 

Sudha Murthy may be the chairperson of the Infosys Foundation, but today, she was there as a children’s author and at the core as a grandmother.

It was heartening to see the warmth she had for all the little ones sitting there in the audience and how she dedicated her entire session,  The Man From The Egg, to them.

Stating off by telling how astounded she was with her grandchildren’s contemporary and ultra-modern version of mythical tales, Sudha narrated a few of them, and each one of us cracked up at her style and her gestures as she told us all about her grandchildren’s ‘Pizza and Hot Chocolate Krishna.’

“I was taken aback by how they see Lord Krishna not as the God that we used to but as their classmate. I remember that later when my daughter came and asked me to narrate the story of Draupadi’s cheerharan to the kids, I said, ‘No, No, I don’t have the courage to tell your kids more stories. God only knows how they will modernise it!” she exclaimed.

Sudha Murthy added, “I tried to make my daughter understand that when you tell them mythology, you should do it with Bhakti, devotion to the God. However, she told me that she needs more logical and connected stories to interest the kids, otherwise they question everything, every action.”

It was this that prompted Sudha to write about mythology for children. So far, she has written two books which are based on unusual tales from Mahabharata and the Trinity. She also revealed how she plans to write three more in the coming years on various other subjects from mythology.

Reflecting on her role as a children’s author and also guiding the parents, she said, “A child is like a wet wall. You can draw anything you want on it and the wall will dry out in two days, but the mark will always remain there. So, be careful of what you teach and preach to your child.”

Sudha Murthy also touched upon a very worrying issue in regard to raising the future generation and that’s the insurmountable pressure which the parents are putting on their children.

“Unfortunately, the parents live their dreams through their children. But, they must understand that everybody should be given a chance to run their own marathon. Life doesn’t always mean achievement, but it’s always about the satisfaction and the hardwork you did.”

Sudha Murthy also talked about her work for eliminating the Devdasi system from India. Devadasi system is a religious practice in some parts of Southern India, including Andhra Pradesh, whereby parents marry a daughter to a deity or a temple. The marriage usually occurs before the girl reaches puberty and requires the girl to become a prostitute for upper-caste community members. She shared how in 18 years of her work for them, she changed the lives of over 3000 Devdasis.

Recollecting the memory of the time when all the 3000 Devdasis gathered at a place to thank her, Sudha said, “It was probably that one rare time that I broke down in public. I had nothing to say to them and just tears flowed down my cheeks. They presented me with a handmade gift with an intention that they wanted me to remember them. So, they made a sort of Razai (blanket) for me where each one of them did one stitch, and hence my book’s name, 3000 stitches.”

Reminiscing over her time in the engineering college where she was the only girl in a batch of 150 students, she said, “When I look back now, I realised that it was hard, very difficult. For starters, there was no ladies washroom on the campus. The boys would look at me like I was some new animal in the zoo. They couldn’t imagine what a girl was doing in the “man’s area.” How could I do foundry, carpentry, or welding! No one talked to me for one whole semester. But then I topped the University and showed them that not only the girls can do engineering but they can also be better at it than boys.”

“The lesson here is anyone can excel if they are interested,” she added with this big serene smile and in that moment, I terribly missed my Nani.

Coming to the grandmothers, one of the grannies in the crowd asked Sudha Murthy as to how in today’s world, they can connect with their grandchildren, to which Sudha Murthy outspokenly replied, “In my observation, I might be incorrect, but I think the grandmothers nowadays are extremely busy watching TV serials, the Saas-bahu ones and have no time for their grandchildren. On the other hand, the mothers come home from work and keep the kids occupied, they give them all kinds of Nintendo and other gadget games. I am not saying that you shouldn’t watch TV serials, but limit your time, and especially, when the kids are at home, make time to get involved with them and connect with them.”

To end the session, Sudha Murthy expressed her love for the kids again and said, “I love children. They are our future and I have great hopes for them.”