Celebrated author, educator and philanthropist Sudha Murty left a live audience of 1,000+ individuals of all age groups at the Sharjah Children’s Reading Festival (SCRF) captivated and craving for more just as her books do even at the age of 72. In her session, titled ‘Tales of Grandma’, on Friday, the author of 44 books (29 in English and 15 in Kannada), Ms Murty acknowledged that she now releases one book a year.

Ms Murty, awarded India’s highest civilian honour Padma Bhushan last month, regaled the audience with tales as a grandmother would. Asked to choose a favourite among her published works, she said: “It is difficult to ask a mother to choose between her children, and my books are my children.” Ms Murty’s advice to the young audience is to develop hobbies. “It can be anything, even one is fine if you pursue it in all earnest without letting your studies get affected. In fact, the hobby will help you focus on your studies, while also helping you become a better person.” To an interesting question about embracing technology through mediums such as podcasts to deliver her stories, Ms Murty gave a revealing confession. “I have always been comfortable just writing. Lately, I have been told that I need to look into new formats to share my stories. Podcasts are not for me. However, I recently requested my daughter to look into the possibility
of audiobooks”.