Celebrated author, educator and philanthropist Sudha Murty left a packed hall 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.

Her session, titled ‘Tales of Grandma’, was the highlight of the day and the organisers even had to shut the doors midway into the session after the alleys also filled up with people standing. Many trooped in a little late because there were no clear directions on the agenda.

The love and affection from the children and parents alike, clamouring for pictures, blessings and signed autographs on her books, became so overbearing that the SCRF security had to called it off fearing a stampede on the dias.

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.” the author of 44 books (29 in English and 15 in Kannada) acknowledged that she now releases one book a year.

The Intellectual Hall at the Expo Centre was packed to the rafters. SCRF

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”.

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.”

For the uninitiated, most of Ms Murty’s books are based on her real-life experiences, and hence “non-fiction to a large extent,” she said. Among her latest works has been a three-book set: Gopi Diaries. Citing the latest trilogy as an example, Ms Murty revealed that Gopi in the book is actually his dog. She also shared anecdotes of how the dog was initially unwanted, but ended up becoming “my son” within a year of entering the household.

Ms Murty is a philanthropist and wife of tech multinational Infosys head Narayan Murthy. Their daughter Akshata is married to British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak. Recently, a video of her casual chat about Sunak went viral.

House of Wisdom visit

The author then visited the House of Wisdom (HoW), Sharjah’s iconic cultural centre and futuristic library, where she was introduced to the emirate’s efforts to promote culture, knowledge and innovation amongst the younger generation in the UAE and beyond. She sifted through HoW’s exhaustive physical and digital archives and was briefed on the various programmes and initiatives led by HoW to stimulate imaginations and boost cross-cultural understanding and exchange.

As part of her tour through HoW’s world-class facilities, Ms Murty stopped at the Little Reader section, where she was briefed on the events and workshops that are designed exclusively for children in order to develop their skills in a variety of areas. She also reviewed the wide-ranging collection of children and young adult titles in English, Arabic and other languages.