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I don’t want my social work associated with Infosys: Sudha Murty at JLF 2018
Enthusiastic schoolchildren thronged Philanthropist and writer Sudha Murty’s session, titled The Man from the Egg, at the Jaipur Literature Festival on Friday.
Philanthropist and writer Sudha Murty says she doesn’t want her social work associated with Infosys, the company founded by her husband Narayan Murthy.
Speaking at the Jaipur Literature Festival 2018 during a session entitled The Man from the Egg on Friday, Murty said it was good that some people she helped hadn’t known of her connection to the IT giant. If they had known, she believes they’d have had “more expectations” and “wouldn’t open up”. “I don’t want to associate my social work with Infosys, money, etc.,” she said.
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Her love for telling stories came through in anecdotes. The chairperson of Infosys Foundation, who has authored books like Wise and Otherwise and Bag of Grandma’s Stories, recalled how, in an attempt to stay incognito, she had once told a bystander she was her own cousin! Murthy was clearly elated that a large crowd that included many schoolchildren had turned up to hear her speak. “I belong to a teachers’ family and writing was my expression,” she said in response to a question on why she began writing.
Reciting mythological tales of Lord Krishna and Sita to her grandchildren, who moulded them into modern-day fiction, seems to have been the stimulus that pushed Murty to writing for children. She has decided to make mythology easier and more logical for children, because “they can’t understand how a Goddess can be born out of fire”. Her latest book ‘The Man from the Egg’ features stories of three Hindu deities – Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva.
Murty also charmed the young crowd by narrating that oft-repeated tale of how Narayana Murthy, when he met her father to ask for permission to marry her, had mentioned he wanted to open an orphanage and join the CPI(M). Her father told him to get a job.
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