Acclaimed philanthropist and Padma Bhushan recipient Dr Sudha Murty showed off her witty side during an interaction with faculty and students of Panjab University on Friday.
Murty will be one of the four people who will receive honorary degrees from the university at the convocation on Saturday.
Murty opened with a quip about her recent appearance on the Kapil Sharma show. She spoke about her background as a computer science engineer and how her daughter who was 15 at the time had encouraged her to get into philanthropy, and how she chose to become an author of children’s books, jokingly calling them her clients.
Her interaction was driven by questions from the audience. When she was asked whether being a woman had affected her work, she said when she first worked at an assembly line at Tata, she used to be the only woman there and people would avoid her or make comments about her. But 50 years after this when she revisited the same assembly line, she saw many women there, making the cars that she joked mostly men are fond of driving.
She also said despite having a computer engineering background, it didn’t have the “dum” that is there in mechanical and civil engineering. She said she had always been bold and even her decision to marry Narayana Murthy, who was jobless at the time, had been a bold move. She joked she had to pay the bill whenever they went out to eat.
{{/usCountry}}She also said despite having a computer engineering background, it didn’t have the “dum” that is there in mechanical and civil engineering. She said she had always been bold and even her decision to marry Narayana Murthy, who was jobless at the time, had been a bold move. She joked she had to pay the bill whenever they went out to eat.
{{/usCountry}}Murty also had an interesting take on the emerging industry for artificial intelligence and ChatGPT. “The human touch and compassion is always important. If you ask an AI to console someone after the death of their father, a human would do a much better job,” she said.
On her status as a simple woman, she added that in her family, celebrating birthdays or anniversaries was discouraged. She added that her children didn’t receive any pocket money and rather than money, helping others had brought great happiness into her life.
Talking about the issues that children faced with mental health, she said it was wrong to compare your child with the children of your neighbours. “Every child is running his or her own marathon. You may lose the battle but you must win the war. Repeated success makes a person arrogant,” she added.
She also launched a book titled “Human Rights and Social Responsibility: A Reflection”, edited by chairperson of Centre for social work, PU, Gaurav Gaur.
Stage set for 70th convocation
Vice-President of India and PU chancellor Jagdeep Dhankhar will preside over the 70th convocation of Panjab University on Friday.
Students have been asked to be seated by 10.30 am. Students will wear dress robes as done in previous years, as the university had decided against changing the dress code to traditional attire.
The Vice-President will also hold meetings with the faculty and members of the Panjab University Teachers’ Association (PUTA) and other PU bodies. Security will remain beefed up throughout the campus for this.
The security staff have also warned students not to have any unauthorised visitors stay over at PU hostels. Surprise checks will be carried.
Gate number 1 (from PGIMER side) will remain open for entry and exit between 6 am and 9 am and then from 1 pm onwards. No vehicles will be allowed between 9 am and 5 pm.
Gate number 2 (Sector 15 side) will remain open for entry and exit throughout the convocation. Gate number 3 (Sector 25 side) will remain open for entry and exit from 6 am to 10 pm for students.
The route from Gate Number 1 via administrative block, chemistry department and physics department road via the gymnasium hall up to the golden jubilee guest house has been designated as a “no vehicle road”. Public will not be allowed on this road between 9 am and 5 pm.